Georgia House approves amended HB 651 after Senate adjourns
House Bill 651 is dead for the session after the Georgia House voted 140-29 Friday night to approve the Senate’s version with additional House amendments — after the Senate had already adjourned for the year.
UPDATE: House Bill 651 is dead for the session after the Georgia House voted 140-29 Friday night to approve the Senate’s version with additional House amendments — after the Senate had already adjourned for the year.
The bill, which aimed to rein in the use of school zone speed cameras, can’t become law unless reintroduced in a future session. That means, for now, cameras will continue to operate under previously passed legislation.
House Bill 225, which sought to phase out school zone speed cameras entirely by 2028, also failed to cross the finish line. The Senate passed a substitute version Friday afternoon, but the House did not take up the amended bill before adjourning, effectively killing the measure for 2025.
“Anything that we pass for the remainder of this evening will be in the Senate for action on Day 1 of the session in 2026,” Speaker Jon Burns said late Friday after the House vote on House Bill 651. “My opinion is we continue to pass legislation that’s important to Georgians, impactful to Georgians. Let’s do our work. I think that’s what we should do. I hope you’ll agree with me.”
“It appears that the Senate has checked all of their priorities—all of their political priorities—and decided to end their night early instead of finishing their work on behalf of the people that we represent,” Burns continued. “Of course they are to do as they please, but this chamber puts policy over politics.”
The House adjourned just after 10:30, more than an hour after the Senate adjourned.
ORIGINAL STORY:
ATLANTA (41NBC/WMGT) — Two bills that could change how speed cameras are used in Georgia school zones cleared the state Senate Friday, the final day of the 2025 legislative session, and now return to the House for final approval.
House Bill 651, which initially passed the House in March, was passed by the Senate with a substitute version that keeps the use of school zone speed cameras legal but limits enforcement to stricter hours and adds new transparency and accountability requirements. Meanwhile, House Bill 225, originally intended to ban the cameras entirely, would now phase them out starting in 2028.
Both bills must be reapproved by the House before midnight to become law.
According to the Senate substitute of HB 651, speed cameras would only be allowed to issue tickets on school days, during instructional hours, and for one hour before and after school. Local governments could further narrow those hours. First-time violations would cost $75 with no increase in fine amount for subsequent violations. Unless lawmakers make further changes, the amount for additional offenses would need to be set in future legislation or regulation.
The Senate’s version would require new standards, including warning signs with flashing yellow lights when the cameras are active. The bill also prohibits local governments from adding late fees or surcharges to citations.
HB 225 now aims to end the program gradually. The amended version would prohibit local governments from entering into or renewing camera enforcement contracts after July 1, 2027. All laws authorizing school zone speed cameras would be repealed on July 1, 2028.
Macon-Bibb County has been at the center of debate over school zone speed cameras. Bibb County Sheriff David Davis stopped approving citations from the cameras in March, and Mayor Lester Miller pledged to personally pay for any valid tickets issued outside allowed hours. Miller has argued the cameras are legal and help protect children.
The House must now decide whether to accept the Senate’s changes before the midnight Sine Die deadline, or let the measures die for the session.
