The State Senate has moved two bills about school zone cameras to the Rules Committee. This keeps both bills alive while lawmakers debate whether to amend the program or repeal it entirely. The annual session has just one week remaining, with Sine Die on April 4.
The automated school zone cameras issue fines to motorists who speed 11 mph or greater over the speed limit in school zones. The current law allows the cameras to operate starting one hour before the school day starts, during the school day, until one hour after the school day ends. They first became law in Georgia in 2018. Since then, many Georgians have expressed disapproval of the program. They are frequently a hot topic in social media discussions.
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School Zone Cameras 2025
This legislative session saw two competing measures on school zone cameras. House Bill 225, sponsored by Rep. Washburn, will repeal them entirely. House Bill 651, sponsored by Rep. Powell, would revise the program with more safeguards when the cameras are used. Both measures passed the state house before Crossover Day. They then went to the state senate for consideration.
The two bills were assigned to the Senate Committee on Public Safety. The committee met for three hours, a pretty lengthy discussion by Georgia Assembly standards, to consider the two bills on March 19. The discussion on which direction to move forward, either repeal entirely or revise the program, continued. The committee was scheduled to meet once more on Friday, March 28, to discuss the two bills; however, that meeting has been canceled.
On Friday morning, it appeared the two bills may both die this year after failing to make it out of the Senate Public Safety Committee. State senators instead opted to move the bills to the Senate Rules Committee. This was agreed to during Friday’s session on the senate floor. The rules committee can now consider which, if either, bill to schedule for a vote in the State Senate.
Featured image shows a school zone speed limit photo-enforced road sign. Dalton Police Department photo.
