As we have noted in an earlier blog posting, many have raised questions about the effective date of Georgia’s new Restrictive Covenant Act.  The questions derive from inconsistencies in the effective dates between the amendment that gave life to the statute and the statute itself.  To cure this potential issue, Rep. Wendell Willard, Vice Chairman of the Rules Committee and Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has introduced HB 30 to re-enact the statute.  In Section 1 of the Bill, the purpose of introducing HB 30 is set forth:

During the 2009 legislative session the General Assembly enacted HB 173 (Act No. 64, Ga. L. 2009, p. 231), which was a bill that dealt with the issue of restrictive covenants in contracts and which was contingently effective on the passage of a constitutional amendment. During the 2010 legislative session the General Assembly enacted HR 178 (Ga. L. 2010, p. 1260), the constitutional amendment necessary for the statutory language of HB 173 (Act No. 64, Ga. L. 2009, p. 231), and the voters ratified the constitutional amendment on November 2, 2010. It has been suggested by certain parties that because of the effective date provisions of HB 173 (Act No. 64, Ga. L. 2009, p. 231), there may be some question about the validity of that legislation. It is the intention of this Act to remove any such uncertainty by substantially reenacting the substantive provisions of HB 173 (Act No. 64, Ga. L. 2009, p. 231), but the enactment of this Act should not be taken as evidence of a legislative determination that HB 173 (Act No. 64, Ga. L. 2009, p. 231) was in fact invalid.

The speed with which this may pass through the legislature when it reconvenes on January 10 is unknown.  As of today, it is not yet on the legislative calendar.