Lawmakers Huddle: A recap of Georgia legislative session Week 11

Caption

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks during a media tour and grand opening at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, March 26, 2025, in Ellabell, Ga.

Credit: AP Photo/Mike Stewart

As the 2025 Georgia legislative session nears its end, state lawmakers are racing to finalize bills before Sine Die, the final day of the session.

In this week’s Lawmakers Huddle, Morning Edition host Pamela Kirkland speaks with GPB Lawmakers host Donna Lowry about the surprises, bipartisan efforts, and political shifts that marked Week 11 under the Gold Dome.

One of the most unexpected developments came in the form of a pay raise. State lawmakers approved salary increases for the governor, lieutenant governor, House speaker, and other officials.

Despite some partisan debates, lawmakers found common ground on at least one major issue: in vitro fertilization. A bill codifying the right to IVF passed overwhelmingly in the Senate this week.

TRANSCRIPT:

Pamela Kirkland: This is GPB. I'm Pamela Kirkland. It's Friday, which means it's time for our weekly Lawmakers' Huddle, where we check in with GPB's Donna Lowry about everything happening under the Gold Dome. We're just days away from the end of Georgia's legislative session. And as usual, there have been a few last-minute surprises. Donna joins me now to break it all down. Good morning.

Donna Lowry: Good morning.

Pamela Kirkland: Man, it was hard keeping up with what was going on this week. Devon and I were talking about that earlier. Let's start with that last-minute move to raise salaries for top state leaders, including the governor. This seems like it really wasn't on people's radars going into the week. What happened?

Donna Lowry: Not at all. They came as a major surprise. The language came as an amendment to a bill that passed in the House to give raises to Georgia Supreme Court justices and other judges in the state. It would have made Gov. Kemp, though — this new language, it will make him the highest-paid governor in the nation, or one of them. His yearly salary would increase from $182,000 to $250,000 dollars. Other statewide officeholders from the attorney general to the state school superintendent would also see significant bumps in their salaries. And now the bill must go to the House for action, but it would make him one of the highest-paid governors in the nation.

Pamela Kirkland: Were there any other unexpected additions or changes to some of the bills that you were paying attention to this week?

Donna Lowry: Yes. You might recall on Crossover Day, the Senate failed to vote on a bill that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion policies in schools and colleges. The bill's sponsor said he wouldn't give up on the measure. Yesterday, the language from his bill showed up in legislation that passed in the House to give more sick days to teachers. So once again, education. The Senate Education and Youth Committee passed the bill with the new additions and it will now go to the Rules Committee to possibly make it to the Senate floor for a vote. Of course, Pamela, removing DEI programs is something we're seeing at the federal level.

Pamela Kirkland: Mm-hmm, and we saw a bit of bipartisanship under the Dome this week. What was the response to the bill that was — that would guarantee the right to IVF here in Georgia?

Donna Lowry: Yeah, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the House bill that would protect in vitro fertilization under state law. This was a major priority for House Speaker Jon Burns. If signed by the governor, it would protect IVF from legislation that also came as a surprise this week. There was a hearing on a House bill that would make most abortions a homicide. Hundreds of supporters and opponents packed the hearing, but the committee did not take a vote. We'll see what happens.

Pamela Kirkland: Yep, got a couple days left, so we'll see what happens there. And finally, some big news for one longtime state lawmaker. What do we know about Sen. Brandon Beach's new role in Washington?

Donna Lowry: Yes, Republican Sen. Brandon Beach of Alpharetta has been tapped as U.S. Treasurer and so well may see his name on some money. So there was lots of excitement under the Gold Dome about that.

Pamela Kirkland: Yeah, so on his way to Washington. That's GPB's Donna Lowry, host of Lawmakers, with this week's recap from the state Capitol. You can catch Lawmakers weeknights at 7 p.m. while the Legislature is in session on GPB and find all of our coverage of the Georgia General Assembly at gpb.org. Thank you so much, Donna, as always.

Donna Lowry: Thank you.