ATLANTA — Several bills in Georgia are in limbo after passing the General Assembly. However, Gov. Brian Kemp has through Saturday to sign or veto the measures.
According to state law, the governor has up to 40 days after sine die, the day the legislative session ends, to sign or veto bills that have passed both chambers of the legislature. He could also not take any action. Former gubernatorial aide Brian Robinson knows the process well.
"That's an action you very rarely see in Georgia, doing nothing," Robinson said. "In an election year particularly, if there's something where you don't necessarily want to override the legislature, or you may see some merit in it but just don't want to have to talk about it in the campaign, letting it go into effect without your signature is a way of distancing yourself from it."
The Governor's Office said there were fewer than 20 bills awaiting action as of Friday evening. Some bills are written in a way that doesn't necessarily need a governor's signature to pass once the deadline passes.
HB 1175 fell under that description, and the measure would de-stigmatize fentanyl strips. Advocates argued these strips would help prevent accidental overdoses by allowing people to test street drugs to see if they are laced with fentanyl, which can be deadly.
Late Friday, 11Alive received word that Governor Kemp had signed HB 1175, also known as the Georgia Raw Dairy Act, which allows raw milk sales in the state and coupled the measure to decriminalize fentanyl strips.
The Governor's Office also said Kemp vetoed three other bills, including one that would have annexed land in Smyrna from unincorporated Cobb County. He signed into law HB 476, which removes the Georgia Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Board from the jurisdiction of the Professional Licensing Board Division of the Secretary of State’s Office.
Robinson said the governor may not take action on certain bills because they could be complicated or require too much of an explanation.
"In a campaign year, you don't want to be explaining," Robinson said. "Maybe those pieces of legislation are meritorious. Maybe they're good for Georgia, but they're too hard to explain and too easy to attack with misinformation or half-truths."
The Governor's Office said a full summary of which bills were signed or vetoed would be available by the end of Saturday.
Robinson pointed to major legislation signed by the governor this session, including tax reform, mental health reform, constitutional carry, public safety and education-related measures. He said the next legislative session could turn the focus to the economy and inflation, crime, potential Medicaid expansion and workforce development.