Kemp’s priority lawsuit limit overhaul takes legislative detour through Georgia House

by Maya Homan, Georgia Recorder
February 27, 2025

In an unexpected twist, two bills backed by Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp that take aim at Georgia’s legal landscape will bypass a typical committee path before coming up for a vote on the House floor.

The legislation to limit lawsuit jury awards are Senate Bill 68, which includes provisions that would limit owners’ liability for injuries that occur on their property and restrict damages awarded for medical bills, and Senate Bill 69, which would increase regulations on third-party funding of lawsuits. The two proposals will instead be assigned to a newly created subset of the gatekeeping House Rules Committee called the Subcommittee of Rules on Lawsuit Reform, composed of several influential members of both parties.

House Rules Committee Chairman Butch Parrish, a Swainsboro Republican, announced the change during Wednesday’s House Rules Committee meeting, saying that his chamber is dedicated to passing legislation designed to overhaul Georgia’s system for awarding damages to injured people. The governor’s top 2025 legislative priority is referred to by Kemp and other supporters as “tort reform.” So far, SB 68 has cleared the Senate chamber and now awaiting a needs a vote in the House for a clear path for it to advance by Crossover Day. Meanwhile, SB 69 is set for a Senate vote Thursday.

“Last week, Senate Bill 68, the governor’s tort reform bill, passed in the Senate and was sent to us for consideration,” Parrish said. “We’re going to pass substantive, meaningful tort reform this session. That being said, I’m appointing a subcommittee of Rules on Lawsuit Reform to consider the governor’s proposal, and I’m confident that the members of the subcommittee will work diligently to give tort reform fair consideration.”

Kemp has argued that sweeping policy changes are necessary to bring down insurance costs for businesses throughout the state. During his 2025 State of the State address, the governor vowed to bring back lawmakers for a special session if he felt they came up short in delivering “meaningful, impactful” changes. A top Kemp aide also appeared on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Politically Georgia talk show last week, threatening to use the governor’s leadership committee campaign money to back primary challengers for any Republicans who voted against the bill or supported “unfriendly amendments.” 

Prominent House Republicans, including Speaker Jon Burns, applauded the creation of the subcommittee for Kemp’s tort bills. 

“Excessive lawsuits and the rising cost of insurance have impacted our citizens, businesses and communities across the state for too long,” Burns said in a statement. “That’s why Chairman Parrish and the members of this committee will work diligently to give the governor’s proposals fair consideration and pass legislation that returns balance to our courtrooms and stability to our insurance markets—all while upholding the right of our citizens with legitimate claims to be made whole.”

House Democrats questioned the decision to create a new subcommittee, arguing that the two bills should have been assigned to the existing House Judiciary Committee. 

“I think that it would’ve been better for the bills to go through the normal process and go through the full Judiciary Committee,” state Rep. Stacey Evans said. “We regularly deal with bills like this and it is a little concerning that we’re bypassing that process, but I’m glad that I was appointed to be part of this process and look forward to the debate.”

The Atlanta Democrat, who practices business litigation, also argued that the bill would not tackle the problem of rising insurance premiums, and cautioned that the changes proposed in SB 68 could impede Georgia residents’ ability to seek damages in the event they are injured.

“We should not be getting in the way of anybody’s ability to be compensated for harm done to them through no fault of their own, and that’s what I’m afraid the bill, in its current form, does,” she said.

Influential Republicans on the new subcommittee include Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones of Milton, Majority Leader Chuck Efstration of Dacula, and Appropriations Chairman Matt Hatchett of Dublin. House Democrats appointed to the committee include Minority Caucus Chair Tanya Miller of Atlanta and Minority Caucus Whip Sam Park of Lawrenceville.

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