republic-os/legislation/us/states/ga/2023-24/sb-195.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "\"Freedom to Work Act\"; enact"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Title 43 of the O.C.G.A., relating to professions and businesses, so as to repeal Code Section 43-1-34, relating to licenses for transitioning members of the armed forces, and Code Section 43-1-35, relating to expedited license by endorsement for spouses of active or transitioning members of the armed forces, and to enact statutes to facilitate licensure of transitioning service members, military spouses, and other qualified individuals who have certifications from or work experience in the military or licenses from or work experience in another state under certain conditions; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2023_24"
identifier: "SB 195"
citation: "Georgia SB 195 (2023_24)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ed Harbison", "Ed Setzler", "Frank Ginn", "Kay Kirkpatrick", "Larry Walker, III", "Mike Dugan", "Tonya Anderson"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 19
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-02-15"
last_action: "2024-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/72abc253-42ec-4d90-9f6e-3a490ccbc42e"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "4bbcb863fa4c75abb671543ee185e4dff6ff528c62958f7f932aa720fdaac1cf"
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 SB 195 (2023_24) — "Freedom to Work Act"; enact

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Title 43 of the O.C.G.A., relating to professions and businesses, so as to repeal Code Section 43-1-34, relating to licenses for transitioning members of the armed forces, and Code Section 43-1-35, relating to expedited license by endorsement for spouses of active or transitioning members of the armed forces, and to enact statutes to facilitate licensure of transitioning service members, military spouses, and other qualified individuals who have certifications from or work experience in the military or licenses from or work experience in another state under certain conditions; 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. **As introduced LC 52 0256** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/214852.pdf)
2. **As passed Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/217195.pdf)
3. **Committee sub LC 46 0588S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/216463.pdf)
4. **Floor Amend 4 LC 46 0933S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/229317.pdf)
5. **Floor amend 1 AM 36 0965** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/220269.pdf)
6. **Floor amend 1 AM 46 0251** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/217104.pdf)
7. **Floor amend 2 AM 36 0967** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/220379.pdf)
8. **Floor amend 3 AM 46 0253** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/220400.pdf)
9. **LC 46 0655S/hrcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/219632.pdf)
10. **SB 195/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/229571.pdf)

## Votes

- Senate Vote #168 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **54–0** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #319 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **169–0** (pass) · lower
- House Vote #885 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **137–27** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #866 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **47–3** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Ed Harbison — primary (person)
- Ed Setzler — primary (person)
- Frank Ginn — primary (person)
- Kay Kirkpatrick — primary (person)
- Larry Walker, III — primary (person)
- Mike Dugan — primary (person)
- Tonya Anderson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-15** Senate Hopper `introduction`
- **2023-02-16** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-01** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-02** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2023-03-06** Senate Tabled
- **2023-03-06** Senate Taken from Table
- **2023-03-06** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2023-03-06** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2023-03-07** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2023-03-08** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2023-03-15** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-27** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2023-03-27** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2024-03-28** Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub As Amended
- **2024-03-28** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2024-04-04** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-05-02** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2024-05-02** Act 555 `executive-signature`
- **2024-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/72abc253-42ec-4d90-9f6e-3a490ccbc42e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).