HB7: HB7 Income tax; workforce-ready graduates employed in high-tech full-time jobs in rural counties; provide tax credit

Under current Georgia law, there is no specific income tax credit for recent graduates who take tech jobs in rural parts of the state. This bill would create one. It adds a new section to the state tax code (O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.29) offering a $4,000 tax credit per year, up to $12,000 total, to 'workforce-ready graduates' who work full time in qualifying high-tech jobs located in rural counties. To qualify, a graduate must have a postsecondary credential in engineering or computer, information, or data science, and be certified by the Georgia Department of Labor through a workforce readiness program the department must set up by January 1, 2027. The job itself must be in a rural county (population under 50,000 with 10 percent or more residents in poverty), at a small business with fewer than 20 employees, working 30 or more hours a week with no set end date, and paying at least the state's lowest countywide average hourly wage. The credit applies only to jobs first held on or after January 1, 2027, can only be claimed once per person, and unused amounts can carry forward three years. The law would take effect July 1, 2026.

• Creates a new state income tax credit of $4,000 per year, capped at $12,000 per person, for workforce-ready graduates in qualifying rural tech jobs.
• Directs the Georgia Department of Labor to adopt certification criteria for workforce readiness programs and graduates by January 1, 2027.
• Directs the Department of Community Affairs to publish an annual list of qualifying rural counties based on population and poverty data.
• Limits eligibility to people first hired in a qualifying job on or after January 1, 2027, and bars anyone from claiming the credit more than once.
• Allows unused credit amounts to carry forward for three years but not to be applied to past tax years.
• Requires the state revenue commissioner to write rules, regulations, and forms to administer the credit.

Recent graduates in engineering or computer, information, or data science fields who take tech jobs in rural Georgia counties; small businesses in those counties that employ them; the Department of Labor, which must build a certification program; and the Department of Community Affairs, which must publish the list of qualifying rural counties.

Graduates who move to rural Georgia for qualifying tech jobs could reduce their state income taxes by up to $12,000 over three years, potentially making rural tech employment more financially attractive and giving small rural employers a possible recruiting advantage over urban competitors.

• Section 1 adds O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.29, defining 'employer,' 'high-tech full-time job,' 'rural county,' 'small business,' and 'workforce-ready graduate.'
• Subsection (b) requires the Department of Labor to set workforce readiness program and certification criteria by January 1, 2027.
• Subsection (c) creates the $4,000-per-year credit (capped at $12,000 total), limited to jobs first held on or after January 1, 2027, and claimable only once per person.
• Subsection (d) caps the credit at the taxpayer's income tax liability for the year, allows a three-year carryforward, and bars applying it to prior years' taxes.
• Subsection (e) directs the commissioner to issue implementing rules, regulations, and forms.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2026, applicable to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2027.

1. 2026-02-26House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
3. 2025-03-03House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
4. 2025-01-15House Second Readers (House)
5. 2025-01-14House First Readers (House)
6. 2025-01-13House Hopper (House)

• Dar'shun Kendrick (D, HD-095)Primary sponsor

• income tax credits
• rural economic development
• tech jobs
• workforce development
• small business incentives