Georgia 2025-2026 Regular Session Status: Introduced 9 D cosponsors

SB 490 — "Georgia Student Mental Health Days Act"; enact

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 10, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee referral and hearing.

Prognosis

Not enough signal yet

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

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.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

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 excused absences for up to three mental health days per school year; to require local school systems and public schools to provide information to students and parents about available mental health resources; 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 · 8 co-sponsors · 238 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (8)

Not signed on (238)

238 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"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

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 490 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 excused absences for up to three mental health days per school year; to require local school systems and public schools to provide information to students and parents about available mental health resources; 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 490?
SB 490 is sponsored by Jaha Howard (Democrat), Nikki Merritt (Democrat), Tonya Anderson (Democrat), Donzella James (Democrat), Randal Mangham (Democrat), Harold Jones II (Democrat), Sally Harrell (Democrat), RaShaun Kemp (Democrat), and Kenya Wicks (Democrat).
What is the current status of SB 490?
This bill has been introduced in the Senate. Introduced February 10, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track SB 490?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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