The Georgia Senate has passed a sweeping revamp to the state's adoption code, sending the bill to the governor's desk.
Republican Gov. Nathan Deal is widely expected to sign the bill into law. After passing the House of Representative on Friday, Deal said on Twitter that the sooner the bill was passed by the Senate, the sooner he would sign it.
The bill, which backers say modernizes and streamlines Georgia's adoption code, stalled late last year after Republican senators changed it to allow adoption agencies to refuse placement based on religious beliefs.
The bill incorporates some changes pushed for by the Senate in an effort to come to a compromise position that may stand a better chance of becoming law. It does not include the contentious religious exemption.
