# Georgia SB 56: Georgia State Indemnification Fund; the Department of Administrative Services to purchase annuities for the payment of indemnification claims; authorize

Georgia SB 56, Georgia State Indemnification Fund; the Department of Administrative Services to purchase annuities for the payment of indemnification claims; authorize, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by John Albers (Republican), Jason Anavitarte (Republican), Lee Anderson (Republican) and 17 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-SB56-2025-2026
- 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 56
- State: Georgia
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: Georgia State Indemnification Fund; the Department of Administrative Services to purchase annuities for the payment of indemnification claims; authorize
- Status: signed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2025-01-29
- Last action: 2025-07-01, Effective Date
- Sponsors: John Albers (Republican), Jason Anavitarte (Republican), Lee Anderson (Republican), Timothy Bearden (Republican), Max Burns (Republican), Greg Dolezal (Republican), Drew Echols (Republican), Frank Ginn (Republican), Steve Gooch (Republican), Russ Goodman (Republican), Marty Harbin (Republican), Bo Hatchett (Republican), Billy Hickman (Republican), John F. Kennedy (Republican), Chuck Payne (Republican), Randy Robertson (Republican), Shawn Still (Republican), Brian Strickland (Republican), Blake Tillery (Republican), Sam Watson (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Public Safety and Homeland Security, Insurance and Labor, General Bill
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 2 (219 yes, 1 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 3

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- COVID death benefits for officer families: benefit, high. Georgia recognizes qualifying public safety officer COVID-19 deaths as line-of-duty deaths, allowing eligible survivors to seek death benefits. The death must have occurred on or before April 15, 2022. A diagnosis or evidence must show COVID-19 within 14 days of the officer's last duty day. COVID-1…
- Officer families get death benefit payment choices: benefit, high. Eligible survivors can choose $2,500 monthly for 60 months, totaling $150,000, or a lump sum discounted using 6% annually. Recipients include an unremarried surviving spouse, children under 19, or children under 24 enrolled in postsecondary education. Other dependents must appear on the officer's m…
- Officer families face COVID claim deadline: cost, high. The law sets a filing window for qualifying officer COVID-19 deaths on or before April 15, 2022. Applications had to be properly submitted from the revised law's effective date through August 1, 2025. Claims filed outside that window cannot be paid. Applications that were not properly submitted wit…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: John Albers (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Jason Anavitarte (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Lee Anderson (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Timothy Bearden (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Max Burns (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Greg Dolezal (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Drew Echols (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Frank Ginn (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Steve Gooch (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Russ Goodman (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Marty Harbin (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Bo Hatchett (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Billy Hickman (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: John F. Kennedy (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Chuck Payne (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Randy Robertson (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Shawn Still (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Brian Strickland (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Blake Tillery (Republican), Senate
- Sponsor: Sam Watson (Republican), Senate
- Cosponsor: Joseph Gullett (Republican), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-03-27 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 165 | 0 | 4 |
| 2025-03-03 | Senate | PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE | pass | 54 | 1 |   |

## Actions (15)

- 2025-07-01: Effective Date
- 2025-05-14: Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
- 2025-05-14: Act 281
- 2025-04-07: Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
- 2025-03-27: House Third Readers (House)
- 2025-03-27: House Passed/Adopted (House)
- 2025-03-20: 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 By Substitute (Senate)
- 2025-02-20: Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- 2025-02-19: Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- 2025-01-30: Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- 2025-01-29: Senate Hopper (Senate)

## Bill text

- SB 56/AP* (v7): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/237933)

## 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 56/AP* (v7) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/237933)

## 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)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB56-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).