Kemp Signs Tort Reform In Georgia, As Similar Proposal Passes In Texas

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) has spent the first weeks of spring taking multiple victory laps following a legislative session that concluded with the enactment of top policy priorities. On April 21, for example, one week after approving legislation to accelerate state income tax cuts, Kemp signed into law Senate Bill 68 and Senate Bill 69, legislation that the Georgia Chamber of Commerce touts as “a meaningful, comprehensive tort reform package.”

“Today is a victory for the people of our state who for too long were suffering the impacts of an out-of-balance legal environment,” Governor Brian Kemp said in his signing statement. “As a result of this collective effort and outpouring of support from Georgians of all backgrounds, Georgia continues to move in the right direction as we work to stabilize costs and compete for economic opportunities that will create good paying jobs for hardworking Georgians across our state.”

The signing statement from Governor Kemp’s office goes on to note that approval of SB 68 and SB 69 “levels the playing field in our courtrooms, bans hostile foreign powers from taking advantage of consumers and legal proceedings, aims to stabilize insurance costs for businesses and consumers, increases transparency and fairness, and ensures Georgia continues to be the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”

While Governor Kemp and state legislators have taken numerous steps in recent years to improve Georgia’s tax and regulatory climate, tort reform aims to improve the judicial climate, making individuals and employers less vulnerable to costly and frivolous lawsuits. The tort reform package signed into law by Kemp last week does so by targeting “phantom” damage awards and “jury anchoring.”

“‘Phantom’ damages are awards based on inflated medical bill amounts that were never actually paid — Georgia courts often base awards on these billed amounts rather than real payments,” the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) explains. “Jury anchoring is a practice in which lawyers suggest an unreasonably large award before a jury with that number becoming an ‘anchor’ point in jurors’ minds.”

The tort reform package enacted by Kemp, ATRA adds, “will address the expansion of premises liability in Georgia that has left businesses responsible for criminal acts committed by third parties on or near their property – even if they had no way to predict or prevent such acts.” Such practices, ATRA notes, “lead to higher litigation costs across the board.

“Securing tort reform has been the Georgia Chamber’s top legislative priority for 20 years,” said Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber. “Getting both SB 68 and SB 69 signed into law fulfills the Georgia business community’s promise to do right by Georgians by restoring balance to the civil justice system so our courts can focus on justice—not jackpots.”

Tort Reform Passes Out Of Texas Senate, Soon To be Taken Up By House

If one considers imitation to be a form of flattery, then Governor Kemp and Georgia lawmakers are now receiving high praise from the Lone Star State. While the debate over school choice has drawn the lion’s share of media attention, Governor Greg Abbott (R), Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (R), and Texas legislators are working to enact a number of other conservative priorities this year, among them a tort reform package similar to the one recently enacted in Georgia.

“Georgia’s meaningful reforms will ensure that truly injured victims can recover fair compensation while preventing frivolous lawsuits from driving up costs for businesses and families,” Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR) noted in a recent post. “TLR—alongside the Lone Star Economic Alliance (LSEA), a business coalition comprised of 1,150 Texas job creators, individuals and associations from every corner of the state—is urging Texas legislators to pass similar reforms through SB 30.”

SB 30, legislation introduced by Lt. Governor Patrick that passed out of the Texas Senate two weeks ago, “seeks to prevent abusive lawsuit practices by many plaintiff lawyers that wrongfully inflate medical damages in personal injury lawsuits,” TLR explains. By approving SB 30, TLR adds, legislators “will bring uniformity to Texas courtrooms by defining the noneconomic damages of pain and suffering and mental anguish, assuring that harmed persons are fully compensated on a fair and reasonable basis.”

“Critically, SB 30 would limit the evidence of medical damages that plaintiffs may submit at trial to 300% of the 2025 Medicare reimbursement rate with an adjustment for inflation,” adds TLR. “The provision is meant to prevent lawyers from ‘colluding with providers who over-diagnose, overbill and overtreat’ victims to come up with inflated medical charges. Additionally, SB 30 makes clear that noneconomic awards cannot be used to punish defendants, make an example to others or serve a social good.”

Nearly a week after the Texas Senate passed and sent SB 30 to the House, it approved SB 39, the other piece of Lt. Governor Patrick’s tort reform package. SB 39, legislation filed by Senator Brian Birdwell (R), aims to crack down on frivolous lawsuits against trucking companies by clarifying the commercial vehicle litigation process.

“The explosion of lawsuits (many of them frivolous) against trucking companies in Texas has caused insurance rates to skyrocket, hurting Texans and our businesses,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a statement released following Senate passage of SB 39 on April 24. “By passing SB 39, the Texas Senate has taken a major step toward providing judges a clear approach to collision cases. These changes will speed up collision trials involving commercial motor vehicles so victims get justice quicker while decreasing legal costs for Texas businesses. I thank Sen. Birdwell for his work on this critical issue.”

After years of trying and coming up short, Governor Abbott, Lt. Governor Patrick, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R), and their colleagues are understandably celebrating the recent enactment of an education savings account program. With just over one month left before the biennial regular legislative session is scheduled to adjourn in Austin, however, lawmakers still have a lot of unfinished business left to tend to and many priority bills still awaiting consideration in one legislative chamber. There is reason to believe that passage of many outstanding priorities, tort reform in particular, is likely to prove politically popular.

A survey was released on April 11 by Protecting American Consumers Together (PACT), a pro-tort reform group, gauging likely Texas voters’ views about lawsuit abuse and the way in which it drives up the cost of living. That survey found:

• 80% say the cost of living has increased in the past year.
• 79% believe reforming the legal system is key to sustaining Texas’s economic growth.
• 67% say lawsuit abuse drives up everyday costs.
• 86% support medical cost transparency in lawsuits.
• 71% support more regulation of billboard attorneys.
• 63% support a “loser pays” system.

According to PACT, the results of their survey demonstrate that “a vast majority of Texans believe lawsuit abuse is a key factor driving up the price of goods and services and want their legislators to take action to fix the system.” Texas lawmakers are working hard to reach a deal on property tax relief and reforms intended to reduce regulatory burdens. Yet the advancement of tort reform in Texas and other states underscores how, beyond tax and regulatory reform, there are other ways in which state lawmakers are aiming to reduce costs for households and businesses.