James May-June 2025 web - Flipbook - Page 80
into law. Consider what these two
laws specifically will do:
• Senate Bill 68 is an omnibus reform
package. It limits premises liability,
requiring plaintiffs to show that a
property owner failed to address
reasonably foreseeable security
risks. The bill eliminates “phantom
damages” by requiring damages
be based on actual paid medical
expenses, rather than in昀氀ated
billed amounts. It also allows for
bifurcated trials, so juries decide
liability and damages separately.
• Senate Bill 69 targets the growing practice of third-party litigation funding. It bans funding from
hostile foreign entities, requires
funders to register with the
Georgia Department of Banking
and Finance and increases transparency to protect clients from
predatory lending practices
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no biological males in female sports & RFRA
Another significant policy
change that passed both houses is
“The Riley Gaines Act” S.B. 1 by Sen.
Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, named
after a prominent women’s sports
advocate. It ensures that biological
males cannot compete in female
sports. It also mandates separate
locker rooms, changing areas and
overnight accommodations— because, as Dolezal says, “safety and
fairness should never be sacrificed
for woke politics.”
After a decade-long effort, the
Religious Freedom Restoration Act
(RFRA)— sponsored by Sen. Ed
Setzler, R-Acworth— passed and
was signed into law by the governor. The legislation, proponents
stressed, provides people of faith
with the same protection from state
and local government actions that
they now have from federal government actions. RFRA will bring
Georgia into line with 37 other
states that have taken action to
restore a full level of legal protection
for people of faith, Setzler explained.
Nowhere where this legislation
has been enacted, he said, has led
to any discrimination. In fact, its
purpose is to protect people of faith
from being discriminated against
because of their deeply held religious beliefs.
Check out some other specific policy accomplishments that
emerged from the session:
HB 67 “AFY 2025 Budget” $50 million
for school safety grants to every public
school in Georgia, over $800 million for
Hurricane Helene relief, $500 million for
water infrastructure projects
HB 68 “FY 2026 Budget” Includes
$1.1 Billion for critical transportation
infrastructure projects
