Georgia Supporting Living Donor Educators Act; enact
HB 235, the Georgia Supporting Living Donor Educators Act, requires public school teachers, public school employees, and certain postsecondary employees to be granted paid leave for living organ donation and bone marrow donation. Public school teachers and employees may receive up to seven days of paid leave for bone marrow donation and up to 30 days for organ donation; postsecondary employees may receive the same amounts of paid leave, though the bill does not expressly state that the leave counts toward retirement or pension service for postsecondary employees. In all cases, the leave may not be charged against annual or sick leave.
The bill also sets conditions for using the leave. An employee must provide a statement from the medical practitioner performing the transplant procedure, or from a hospital administrator, confirming the donation, and the statement must be given to the employer at least seven days before the leave begins. The bill defines key terms such as organ, public school employee, public school teacher, and postsecondary employee, and it applies only to employees of the University System of Georgia, the Technical College System of Georgia, and public school systems as defined in existing law.
HB 235 amends Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated by adding a new section to the education code that creates a statutory paid-leave entitlement for living bone marrow and organ donors employed in Georgia’s public education and postsecondary systems. It also expressly prohibits waiver of these protections for strategic waivers school systems, local boards of education, and charter systems, making the leave requirement mandatory across those covered employers. The bill affects employer leave administration, payroll, and, for public school employees and teachers, retirement/pension service calculations.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial in the legislative process. It passed the House unanimously, 173-0, and the Senate unanimously, 54-0, indicating strong bipartisan approval and little visible opposition. The lack of committee transcript material also suggests there was no recorded significant debate in the available context.
No major points of contention are evident in the available record. The main policy choices embedded in the bill are the scope of covered employees, the length of paid leave, the documentation requirement, and the decision to make the leave non-waivable for certain school governance arrangements. If any concerns existed, they would likely have centered on employer administrative burden, leave verification, or the cost of paid leave, but no opposition is reflected in the votes or provided discussion materials.