# Georgia SB 55: "Dignity and Pay Act"; enact

Georgia SB 55, "Dignity and Pay Act"; enact, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Clint Dixon (Republican), Drew Echols (Republican), Jason Esteves (Democrat) and 4 others; status signed, last action 2025-07-01 (Effective Date); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB55-2025-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Georgia SB 55
- State: Georgia
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: "Dignity and Pay Act"; enact
- Status: signed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2025-01-28
- Last action: 2025-07-01, Effective Date
- Sponsors: Clint Dixon (Republican), Drew Echols (Republican), Jason Esteves (Democrat), Sonya Halpern (Democrat), Billy Hickman (Republican), Elena Parent (Democrat), Shawn Still (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Industry and Labor, Insurance and Labor, General Bill
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 2 (214 yes, 5 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 2

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Higher minimum pay for disabled workers: benefit, medium. Beginning July 1, 2025, Georgia bans using federal disability wage certificates to pay below the federal minimum wage. Employers with certificates issued on or before July 1, 2025, have a transition exception. From July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, those employers must pay at least half the fede…
- More workers gain minimum wage protection: benefit, medium. Beginning July 1, 2025, Georgia's Labor Commissioner can no longer grant groups of employers exemptions from state minimum wage law. This includes exemptions based on employing people with disabilities. Workers covered by those exemptions gain state minimum wage protection.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Clint Dixon (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Drew Echols (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Jason Esteves (Democrat), Senate
- Sponsor: Sonya Halpern (Democrat), Senate
- Sponsor: Billy Hickman (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Elena Parent (Democrat), Senate
- Sponsor: Shawn Still (Republican), Senate
- Cosponsor: Sharon Cooper (Republican), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-03-18 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 163 | 2 | 9 |
| 2025-03-03 | Senate | PASSAGE | pass | 51 | 3 | 1 |

## Actions (15)

- 2025-07-01: Effective Date
- 2025-05-01: Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
- 2025-05-01: Act 46
- 2025-04-07: Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
- 2025-03-18: House Third Readers (House)
- 2025-03-18: House Passed/Adopted (House)
- 2025-03-13: House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- 2025-03-06: House Second Readers (House)
- 2025-03-04: House First Readers (House)
- 2025-03-03: Senate Third Read (Senate)
- 2025-03-03: Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- 2025-02-19: Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- 2025-02-18: Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- 2025-01-29: Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- 2025-01-28: Senate Hopper (Senate)

## Bill text

- SB 55/AP* (v5): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/236522)

## Related bills

- SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckless stunt driving; replace the forfeiture penalty (signed)
- SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation for certain motor vehicles; provide (signed)
- SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Service Foundation; establish (signed)
- SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact (signed)
- HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish (signed)
- HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact (signed)

## Sources
- [SB 55/AP* (v5) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/236522)

## Related
- [SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckles…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB160-2025-2026)
- [SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation f…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB384-2025-2026)
- [SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Servic…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB76-2025-2026)
- [SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB406-2025-2026)
- [HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1391-2025-2026)
- [HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1344-2025-2026)
- [Georgia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/georgia/bills)
- [Georgia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/georgia)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB55-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).