Quite a few new laws will be implemented in Georgia on July 1, affecting everything from rules for tenants and landlords to HOPE scholarship eligibility.

While new laws are often scheduled to take effect on July 1, Georgia’s controversial heartbeat abortion bill is not set to take effect until January. It is also currently the subject of a lawsuit.

Below are some of the laws set today:

·         House Bill 12: Requires public schools to post signs displaying phone numbers to report child abuse or neglect.

·         House Bill 62: Requires providers to warn patients receiving mammograms when they have dense breast tissue that might make detecting cancer more difficult.

·         House Bill 64: Concerns notification of military authorities when active-duty personnel are accused of child abuse.

·         House Bill 217: Exempts syringe services programs from certain criminal liability for possession, distribution or exchange of hypodermic syringes, regardless of knowledge of drug-related use.

·         House Bill 218: Extends the time period of HOPE scholarship eligibility to 10 years for students who receive the scholarship after July 1, 2019, and denotes rules for continued eligibility.

·         House Bill 228: Raises the minimum age to get married from 16 to 17. Any 17-year-old wanting to get married must be an emancipated minor.

·         House Bill 287: Gives tax credits to community medical professionals who work with training students.

·         House Bill 346: Bars landlords from engaging in retaliatory actions against tenants who report them for certain code violations or failure to make certain repairs.

·         Senate Bill 9: Establishes definitions and penalties for people who commit sexual assault while supervising or caring for others, such as inmates or people under psychiatric care. Also establishes new rules prohibiting sexual extortion crimes, such as threatening to reveal a nude photo online.

·         Senate Bill 16: Allows Georgia to enter an Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, which provides for fingerprint background checks of medical professionals, rules for expedited medical license applications, investigations, discipline and related matters.

·         Senate Bill 18: Allows physicians to provide health care to a patient through a direct agreement without being subject to insurance regulations.

·         Senate Bill 158: Authorizes DFCS to care for child victims of human trafficking and expands prohibitions against trafficking for labor or sexual servitude.

·         Senate Bill 170: Requires state-owned properties to fly flags honoring veterans on certain holidays and when Georgia residents who are members of the military die in the line of duty.

·         Senate Bill 184: Requires state employee health insurance plans to pay for services provided by federally qualified health centers at no less than the same rates as Medicare.