---
type: "Bill"
title: "Georgia International and Maritime Trade Center; rename to Savannah Convention Center"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 4 of Chapter 7 of Title 50 of the O.C.G.A., relating to the Georgia International and Maritime Trade Center, so as to dissolve the Georgia International and Maritime Trade Center Authority; to rename the convention center; to create the Savannah-Georgia Convention Center Authority; to provide for legislative findings; to provide for definitions; to provide for its membership, manner of appointment, terms of office, and powers and duties; to provide for exemption from taxation; to provide for venue; to provide for disposition of property; to exempt its property from levy and sale; to transfer certain assets and liabilities; to repeal certain laws; to provide for related matters; to provide for effective dates; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2019_20"
identifier: "HB 525"
citation: "Georgia HB 525 (2019_20)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ron Stephens"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 16
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2019-02-27"
last_action: "2019-04-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/85a17b2d-d27a-4393-97f5-b31d6ac8674f"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "2dc9d83e514d019ef1f63235549662451980a9236994d95461de077c5b7196b7"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ga"]
---

# Georgia HB 525 (2019_20) — Georgia International and Maritime Trade Center; rename to Savannah Convention Center

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 4 of Chapter 7 of Title 50 of the O.C.G.A., relating to the Georgia International and Maritime Trade Center, so as to dissolve the Georgia International and Maritime Trade Center Authority; to rename the convention center; to create the Savannah-Georgia Convention Center Authority; to provide for legislative findings; to provide for definitions; to provide for its membership, manner of appointment, terms of office, and powers and duties; to provide for exemption from taxation; to provide for venue; to provide for disposition of property; to exempt its property from levy and sale; to transfer certain assets and liabilities; to repeal certain laws; to provide for related matters; to provide for effective dates; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB 525/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/187525.pdf)
2. **LC 28 9263ER/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/183127.pdf)
3. **Sen floor amend 1 AM 28 1754** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/186413.pdf)
4. **Sen floor amend 2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/186531.pdf)
5. **Sen floor sub LC 28 9361ERS** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/186434.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **165–3** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ron Stephens — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-27** House Hopper
- **2019-02-28** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2019-03-01** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2019-03-05** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-07** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2019-03-07** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2019-03-07** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-14** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-18** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2019-03-28** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2019-03-28** Senate Passed/Adopted As Amended `passage`
- **2019-04-02** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2019-04-11** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-04-28** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-04-28** Act 65 `executive-signature`
- **2019-04-28** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/85a17b2d-d27a-4393-97f5-b31d6ac8674f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).