As the 2025 Georgia legislative session wraps up Thursday, it also signals the end of the first legislative session for Hall County's newest representative.
District 49 State Senator Drew Echols (R-Gainesville) won election to the seat previously held by his wife, Shelly Echols in November. He spoke on WDUN's "The Drive at 5" with Caleb Hutchins Wednesday about some of the more high-profile pieces of legislation that have been moving through the general assembly in his first year.
On the Riley Gaines Act:
The recently re-named Riley Gaines Act was the first state senate bill of the 2025 session. It seeks to require athletes in middle and high school and college sports in the state to participate in the sport corresponding to their gender assigned at birth.
The bill has received national attention as several states and President Donald Trump's administration have been moving to implement similar changes amid controversies over transgender athletes. Echols said he supported the Georgia bill that is now headed to Governor Brian Kemp's desk.
"That was the first legislation of the session for us, and that's kind of a big deal when you're the new guy. I didn't carry the bill, but I did sign on to the legislation and was able to vote for it," Echols said. "It's just a matter of what's fair for our women and girls in sports, in my opinion. It's not rocket science. We want it to be fair, we want the playing field to be level and we don't want young ladies out getting hurt when they're competing."
The bill passed the State Senate for a second time on Monday, March 31, after the State House made some amendments to the bill, with the most noteworthy of those being the re-naming according to Echols.
On tort reform:
One of Governor Kemp's legislative priorities in 2025 has been tort reform legislation. Two State Senate bills, SB 68 and SB 69, are aimed at adjusting aspects of civil lawsuits to try to bring down insurance costs for Georgia businesses.
Echols said it's been one of most contentious issues of the legislative session.
"It was sexy legislation, but it was not fun legislation because it pitted friends against each other in some cases," Echols said. "The ultimate goal was a more balanced judicial system, and hopefully a start to lowering insurance rates. Georgia has been ranked, I think, the fourth-worst 'judicial hellhole' in the United States."
The "judicial hellhole" term was a reference to a recent report by the American Tort Reform Foundation. Echols said he believed something needed to be done.
"We can't have the deck stacked against our business and our defendants when they walk in the courtroom," Echols said. "Proud to get that done. There's a lot of opinions on (SB 68 and SB 69,) but we got it done."
Both bills cleared the general assembly, with SB 69 being the last to do so on Monday, and are now headed to Kemp's desk.
On school security:
In the wake of the September 4, 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School in nearby Barrow County, school security has been an active topic in the 2025 session.
While several state Democrats have attempted to introduce gun control legislation, state Republicans have instead introduced bills looking elsewhere to enhance school security.
One bill that gained enough traction to clear the assembly was House Bill 268, which, among other elements, seeks to implement a state-wide database for students who have exhibited behaviors that could signal them as a potential threat to school safety. Echols said he believed the Apalachee shooting has been a catalyst for some needed evaluations of school security.
"It's tragic, but a lot of people did things the right way down there, and I think our school systems, I think GEMA, I think our law enforcement, I think everybody learned from that situation," Echols said. "I think that this legislation could be a bright spot that comes out of such a bad situation."
To hear more from District 49 State Senator Drew Echols on the 2025 Georgia legislative session, click play on the audio above.
