Georgia 2025-2026 Regular Session Status: Introduced 6 D cosponsors

SB 479 — Compulsory Attendance; adopt a policy that students shall be granted not less than one excused absence for attending or participating in a civic or political event; require the local governing body

Last action — Senate Read and Referred

  1. 1
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been introduced in the Senate. Introduced February 09, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee referral and hearing.

Odds of enactment

Low chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a low chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Not enough signal yet

Not enough signal yet to read this bill's trajectory — we surface a likelihood only once there's real movement (stage, sponsorship, committee, or votes) to point to.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Subpart 2 of Part 1 of Article 16 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to compulsory attendance relative to elementary and secondary school students, so as to require the local governing body for each school system and public school to adopt a policy providing that students shall be granted not less than one excused absence per school year for attending or participating in a civic or political event; to require the State Board of Education to develop a model policy; to provide a definition; to provide a short title; to provide for an effective date and applicability; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Senate Read and Referred

  2. Senate Hopper

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 5 co-sponsors · 241 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (5)

Not signed on (241)

241 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 241 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

civil-rights elections education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 479 do?
A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Subpart 2 of Part 1 of Article 16 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to compulsory attendance relative to elementary and secondary school students, so as to require the local governing body for each school system and public school to adopt a policy providing that students shall be granted not less than one excused absence per school year for attending or participating in a civic or political event; to require the State Board of Education to develop a model policy; to provide a definition; to provide a short title; to provide for an effective date and applicability; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
Who sponsors SB 479?
SB 479 is sponsored by Josh McLaurin (Democrat), Harold Jones II (Democrat), Kenya Wicks (Democrat), Jaha Howard (Democrat), Randal Mangham (Democrat), and RaShaun Kemp (Democrat).
What is the current status of SB 479?
This bill has been introduced in the Senate. Introduced February 09, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track SB 479?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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