Advocates criticize “Messaging Bills” as Georgia session winds down

There are two weeks left in the 2026 Legislative Session, and lawmakers are rushing to get their legislation to the governor’s desk.

A legislative session during an election year is always interesting with several lawmakers looking to make a statement to their constituents.

But, the process can be frustrating for advocacy groups trying to make meaningful change.

Isabel Otero, the Georgia Policy Director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said they have seen several messaging bills this session.

“That’s a little bit frustrating because it does waste a little bit of the time of advocates, constituents, the legislature, just because they’re trying to kind of get some messages out there that sort of go beyond what their scope truly is while they’re in a legislative session,” she said.

Some of the bills Otero is referring to are Senate Bill 552 and Senate Bill 116.

Senate Bill 552, or the True Patriotism and Universal Student Access Act, would authorize the organization of partisan and nonpartisan student groups and gatherings in schools.

“There’s a lot of reasons why this is not written well, one of which is that there are protections for students both for their First Amendment rights in schools, but also there are protections beyond that,” Otero said. “If you’re creating a situation where you’re going to allow clubs and things to be there that could harm a student or could potentially feed into harassment or bullying of certain students because of their immutable characteristics, that’s a different problem that you’re going to create for schools.”

Otero said they have seen bipartisan resistance to this bill. Initially, the bill failed to pass the Senate 21-32, but then it passed 46-7. It’s currently in the state House.

Senate Bill 116 would require the collection of DNA samples from any individual in a detention facility charged with a misdemeanor or felony who is subject to an immigration detainer notice.

“What that does is create a situation where for the first thing that you did that caused an arrest… you’ve now sort of incriminated yourself for any other crime by providing the swab, and so what we’ve been trying to say is you are sort of running afoul of the Constitution,” she said.

Otero said the law would violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures and ensures the right to privacy.

“Public safety is important, but the Constitution is not optional, so you cannot just go around making public policy that doesn’t make sense just because you’re trying to show your constituents that you’re working for them,” she said.

Other bills that Otero mentioned as messaging bills include House Bill 1076, which has been viewed as an anti-protesting bill, and Senate Bill 591, which prohibits the disruption of religious services.