ÐÔÊӽ紫ý

They addressed technology that is changing how we live, letting Georgians use a digital replica of their driver's license on their phone during traffic stops while at the same time banning cellphones in elementary and middle schools.

They also passed laws affecting the justice system, food safety and taxes.

Senate Bill 1 was the first item on the Republican-led state Senate's agenda. It generally prohibits student athletes in private and public schools and colleges from competing in interscholastic and intercollegiate sports on teams that do not match their birth gender.

Lawmakers spent many hours debating whether transgender athletes were a threat to the safety of girls and women during competition, and whether there were enough of them to merit a legal ban.

Democrats called it unnecessary and dangerous. Republicans called it necessary for safety, asserting that female athletes could be injured when competing against transgender opponents.

“This common-sense legislation is about what is fair and safe for our children,� said Gov. Brian Kemp, when he signed the measure into law in April. “Girls should not have to share a playing field, a restroom, or locker room with boys.�

Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, said the legislation would ensure “no young woman is ever forced to face a biological male on the field, on the court or in a locker room.� It wasn't an ideological issue, but one of “right or wrong,� he said.

Critics fear the new law will encourage bullying of transgender youths. They also worry that girls with a masculine appearance will face unwanted scrutiny. The law allows parents to challenge their gender.

“It's legalizing discrimination,� said Lynn Green, of Rome, whose transgender son, Ash, was born female.

Green said there are no documented incidents of transgender athletes playing on Georgia school teams, but Ash, 17, corrected her.

While not interested in playing sports himself, Ash has heard about a female high school athlete who is transitioning to male. Under this law, he must still compete on a girls' team.

“That would be stupid,� Ash said, adding, “There are definitely trans athletes in Georgia. I just don't think they're as big of a deal as the bill is making them. They're not going to affect anyone. They're not beating people up.�

There were plenty of laws that were not so controversial.

For instance, House Bill 428 passed with just one “no� vote in the Senate and no opposition in the House, as Republicans and Democrats found a rare moment of solidarity in support of protecting in vitro fertilization. The legislation was prompted by an Alabama Supreme Court ruling last year that declared frozen embryos had to be treated as children. Since some embryos are destroyed during the procedure, it was ruled illegal, raising concerns about legality in Georgia. Now, by near unanimous consent, it is clearly legal.

Read on for highlights about new laws on other important topics.

Technology

House Bill 340: no more cellphones in public schools, at least from kindergarten through middle school. The proponents of this ban on devices that are widely viewed as a distraction stopped short of prohibiting them in high schools. But ban backers said high schools could be next. In the meantime, the law gives elementary and middle schools until fall 2026 to figure out how to stop their students from using their phones at school.

House Bill 296: think of this one like chocolate meets peanut butter; nearly everyone has a smartphone and nearly everyone has a driver's license. So why not put them together? This law goes into effect Tuesday, July 1, but gives police two years to prepare. Apps to carry and read a digital license already exist. For instance, flyers can present their license in Apple Wallet at select Transportation Security Administration checkpoints. But the digital licenses are otherwise limited until July 2027, when Georgia drivers will be able to present their phones to police if they don't have a physical license handy. Officers will not be authorized to take the phone or rifle through it, but they will have to be equipped to scan the digital license.

Justice

Senate Bill 244: this law was backed by Republicans but drew support from some Democrats. It gives money to people whom a court determines were wrongfully convicted, awarding them $75,000 per year of imprisonment. It also reimburses defendants for attorney fees and court costs when a prosecutor is disqualified due to improper conduct and the case is then dismissed. Those indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in connection with her criminal case against President Donald Trump stand to benefit.

Senate Bill 79: far too many people, young people in particular, have died because they have taken fentanyl, sometimes unknowingly. The drug is used as a painkiller in medical settings, but it has found its way to the streets -- often contaminating other drugs, such as Adderall, Oxycodone and Xanax. And it is 100 times more potent than morphine. This law imposes mandatory minimum sentences on those convicted of trafficking fentanyl.

House Bills 85 and 86: these two measures update the way judges are paid, the former striving to equalize local supplementary pay for superior court judges and the latter indexing pay for state supreme court justices, appeals court judges and a statewide business judge to what federal judges make.

House Bill 161: this law expands the authority of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to secure subpoenas without asking a court. With the attorney general's approval, the GBI will be able to compel telecommunications companies to turn over customer information, including name, address and connection records, such as service usage times and durations. The types of investigations that will warrant these extrajudicial subpoenas include crimes against children, crimes facilitated by a computer and, crucially when it came to securing lawmaker support, the crime known as swatting, which, according to testimony, is happening more frequently against politicians; swatting is when someone calls police to an address on false pretenses.

Food

House Bill 398: home bakers and other makers, it's time to go to market. This new “cottage food� law will allow home cooks to sell their goods online, by mail, in grocery stores and at restaurants. The food must be stable without temperature control, so refrigerated items are not included. But breads, cakes, cereals, jams, jellies, preserves, pasta, produce, dried fruits, herbs, nuts, seasonings, vinegar, dill pickles, dry soup mixes and roasted coffee beans generally are included.

Senate Bill 144: any pesticide with a federally-approved label shall be deemed adequately labeled in Georgia and will satisfy the state law duty to label the substance.

Death and taxes

Senate Bill 241: this is another one that passed with big bipartisan majorities. It allows the composting of human corpses and inspired gallows humor at the Capitol that eased discomfort about the topic. The new law offers grieving families some measure of comfort, proponents noted: it will let them plant flowers in soil that came from a departed loved one.

House Bills 111 and 112: the former is a tax cut and the latter is a taxpayer rebate. The cut will reduce the state income tax rate from 5.39% to 5.19% retroactive to the beginning of the current tax year. The rebate will give taxpayers a one-time bonus: $250 for single income tax filers, $375 for single filer heads of household and $500 for married couples filing jointly.