---
type: "Bill"
title: "Georgia Bureaucratic Deference Elimination Act; enact"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 1 of Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions, so as to prohibit courts and administrative officers from deferring to agency interpretations of laws and regulations; to provide for a short title; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2025_26"
identifier: "HB 1247"
citation: "Georgia HB 1247 (2025_26)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["COURTS", "HEALTH", "STATE GOVERNMENT"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Alan Powell", "Matt Reeves", "Mitchell Horner", "Sandy Donatucci", "Scott Hilton", "Steve Tarvin"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 17
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-02-09"
last_action: "2026-05-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e914e0ae-5830-4f95-b253-245404c74ae9"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "6480f9f4f36d5f8b6955a63f0f48d24289f59d5a982f6937d06ed78ec8df1e55"
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 1247 (2025_26) — Georgia Bureaucratic Deference Elimination Act; enact

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 1 of Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions, so as to prohibit courts and administrative officers from deferring to agency interpretations of laws and regulations; to provide for a short title; to provide for related matters; 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. **Floor Amendment AM 62 0077** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/248984.pdf)
2. **HB 1247/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/249088.pdf)
3. **LC 62 0359/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/242012.pdf)
4. **LC 62 0401S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/245146.pdf)
5. **LC 62 0401S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/243257.pdf)
6. **SCSFA to HB 1247** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/247603.pdf)
7. **Sen Ctee Sub LC 49 2842S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/246819.pdf)
8. **Sen Floor Amend 1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/247381.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #854 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **98–70** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #811 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **33–18** (pass) · upper
- Senate Vote #812 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **48–2** (pass) · upper
- Senate Vote #983 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **34–18** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #853 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **96–69** (pass) · lower
- House Vote #640 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **98–63** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Alan Powell — primary (person)
- Matt Reeves — primary (person)
- Mitchell Horner — primary (person)
- Sandy Donatucci — primary (person)
- Scott Hilton — primary (person)
- Steve Tarvin — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-02-09** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2026-02-10** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2026-02-11** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2026-02-19** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-04** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2026-03-04** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2026-03-06** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-20** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-23** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-25** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2026-03-25** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2026-04-02** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub As Amended
- **2026-04-02** Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub
- **2026-04-10** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-05-12** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2026-05-12** Act 718 `executive-signature`
- **2026-05-12** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e914e0ae-5830-4f95-b253-245404c74ae9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).