Thursday morning started with a press conference for a bipartisan bill that seeks to change how Georgians convicted of a crime they did not commit are compensated.

House Bill 533 would allow judges to award $75,000 per year of incarceration to a wrongfully convicted person after they were exonerated, and remove the General Assembly from the process.

The current process requires compensation for an individual to be passed through the General Assembly through legislation.

"I mean, I was gone for 25 years, and I look at it, and no time to save up for no retirement, no pension to build up for no job — none of that," exonerated Georgian Lee Clark said during the  press conference. "I mean, you come out and you start from scratch."

After a contentious battle last year in the Legislature to form the city of Mulberry in Gwinnett County, a new skirmish was brought to the Senate floor.

Sen. Clinton Dixon (R-Gwinnett), who sponsored the creation of Mulberry, criticized Gwinnett's response.

"Unfortunately, Gwinnett County has not been a good partner in this formation of the city of Mulberry," he said. "They currently will not negotiate with the city. Will not take phone calls from the mayor or council dealing with service delivery, dealing with many other factors with the city — the transition of services over. They are simply trying to starve the city out."

SB 138 was penned to end a series of lawsuits between the two entities by forcing Gwinnett to recognize Mulberry and fulfill the county's obligations.

If a solution is not found, the bill would remove Gwinnett sovereign immunity in the ongoing dispute.

Gwinnett County resident Sen. Nicky Merritt (D-Grayson) objected to the bill, calling the initial formation of the city flawed and an issue for the county to settle.

"There are still questions about if the cityhood is even legal, and that has been why the county is — that's one of the reasons why they had some reservations about negotiations, because that has not been resolved in the courts as to was it even constitutional for a city like Mulberry with limited services to really be a city," she said.

The bill was passed 32 to 22 along party lines.

Senate Resolution 23 was written to address a more national issue: term limits.

The resolution would call for a constitutional amendment convention to add term limits of U.S. congressmen and senators.

Two-thirds of the states would need to approve the proposal, which would then need to be ratified by three-quarters of the states.

"The problem I'm looking to address here is the total dysfunction in the United States Congress that we've experienced, really for over a decade now," Sen. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) said. "It is a stalemate. It's infighting. Very little is being done to promote the will of the people."

Opponents say ultimately, term limits aren't the problem.

"Our system is broken not because people are serving too long, but at core it's because Congress — and indeed this also affects state capitals — is not responding to the priorities of the average voter," Sen. Elena Parent (D-Atlanta) said. "Instead, it is captive to the extremes."

The resolution passed 34 to 18 and goes to the House next week.

Meanwhile, the House approved nearly a dozen measures.

House Bill 90 sets the stage for a state constitutional amendment that could double the amount of land that someone can claim as bona fide conservation use property or property taxed at a lower rate.

"We need to look at the needs of family farms, and specifically the property tax burden that they face if not for COVA, which is the Conservation Use Valuation Assessment," Majority Leader Rep. Chuck Efstration said. "It is a means by which between — farms between 10 acres and 2,000 acres can enter into an agreement where property taxes are determined at the use level, not at the market value assessment.

"And this is very important to our state because for agricultural forestry conservation use, that includes farming, livestock, poultry, dairy, timber production, reforestation and conserving wildlife have habitats, COVA can be utilized for land and that allows for the preservation of family farms and important public policy. I think it interests all of us that we preserve family farms in our state."

Its accompanying resolution also passed.

Voters would have the final say in this change, since it's a constitutional amendment. The Senate passed similar legislation on Wednesday.

House Bill 147 would allow the Georgia Technology Authority to collect an annual inventory from state agencies outlining their use of artificial intelligence technology.

"As AI technologies become increasingly integrated into our public services, it's critical that we have a clear understanding of how these technologies are being utilized," Rep. Brad Thomas, (R-Holly Springs) said. "From education to transportation and every government service, and in between the two, the lack of oversight and basic understanding of AI could lead to unintended consequences, including potential biases and attendant privacy infringements.

"I guess to say it best would be in the words of my good friend Chairman Pirkle, who would say, 'we just got to make sure it doesn't get too big for its britches,'" he added.

On Friday, the Senate is expected to vote on a lawsuit reform bill that Gov. Brian Kemp says is his top legislative priority.

GPB's Lawmakers returns for Day 22 on Monday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. Watch the previous week of Lawmakers here.

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