---
type: "Bill"
title: "Workers' compensation; benefits; change certain provisions"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 9 of Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to workers' compensation, so as to change certain provisions related to workers' compensation benefits; to change provisions relating to surviving spouse dependency determination and termination; to increase the compensation benefits for total disability and temporary partial disability; to increase the total compensation payable to a surviving spouse as a sole dependent at the time of death; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date and applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2023_24"
identifier: "HB 480"
citation: "Georgia HB 480 (2023_24)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bill Werkheiser", "Dewey McClain", "Doreen Carter", "Lehman Franklin", "Mandisha Thomas", "Sam Park"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 17
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-02-16"
last_action: "2023-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cc549f61-88cc-436b-8ea5-9f010c7754bd"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "e05dcbad1765f1ff612d207cfe5f8f17c74387fbe84df8687f959d08cf6c22a1"
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 480 (2023_24) — Workers' compensation; benefits; change certain provisions

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 9 of Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to workers' compensation, so as to change certain provisions related to workers' compensation benefits; to change provisions relating to surviving spouse dependency determination and termination; to increase the compensation benefits for total disability and temporary partial disability; to increase the total compensation payable to a surviving spouse as a sole dependent at the time of death; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date and applicability; 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 480/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/219874.pdf)
2. **LC 36 5495/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/215079.pdf)

## Votes

- Senate Vote #330 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **52–3** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #87 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **154–15** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bill Werkheiser — primary (person)
- Dewey McClain — primary (person)
- Doreen Carter — primary (person)
- Lehman Franklin — primary (person)
- Mandisha Thomas — primary (person)
- Sam Park — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-16** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2023-02-16** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2023-02-16** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-21** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2023-02-27** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2023-02-27** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2023-02-28** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-16** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-20** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2023-03-23** Senate Tabled
- **2023-03-27** Senate Taken from Table
- **2023-03-27** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2023-03-27** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2023-03-31** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-02** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-02** Act 259 `executive-signature`
- **2023-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/cc549f61-88cc-436b-8ea5-9f010c7754bd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).