HB192: HB192 Top State for Talent Act; enact

Georgia already runs career education programs in middle and high schools and tracks in-demand jobs through the State Workforce Development Board's High-demand Career List. This bill ties those two systems together more tightly. It requires the State Board of Education's career curriculum, focused programs of study, and school renovation grants to align with that list, and it updates the list of focused career program categories (like advanced manufacturing, digital technology, and healthcare and human services) that schools organize career training around. The bill also extends by one year, to December 2028, the deadline for a final report and the automatic repeal of a program letting certain dual enrollment students use HOPE grant money for career and technical courses. It renames the underlying law from the 'Building Resourceful Individuals to Develop Georgia's Economy Act' to the 'Top State for Talent Act,' repeals some outdated grant and reporting provisions, and creates new required reports from the State Workforce Development Board on program effectiveness and course transferability between Georgia's university and technical college systems.

• Requires the State Board of Education's career curriculum for grades six through 12 to align with the state's High-demand Career List published by the State Workforce Development Board (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-145.1).
• Replaces the 18 existing focused program of study categories with a new set of 14 categories, such as advanced manufacturing, digital technology, and public service and safety (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-159.1).
• Extends the repeal date and final report deadline for the Dual Enrollment HOPE grant access program from 2027 to 2028 (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-161.4).
• Requires the annual school facility grant program for career program equipment and renovations to also cover programs on the High-demand Career List (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-260).
• Repeals an existing competitive grant program and requirements tied to chronically low-performing high schools, and removes a reporting duty from the Technical College System's governing board (O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2-328, 20-2-329, 20-4-11).
• Creates two new required reports from the State Workforce Development Board: a return-on-investment analysis of career programs and a report on course transferability between Georgia's university and technical college systems.

Public middle and high school students and their parents, local school systems, the Department of Education, the State Board of Education, the Technical College System of Georgia, the University System of Georgia's Board of Regents, the Georgia Student Finance Commission, and the State Workforce Development Board all have new duties or changed programs under this bill.

Students would see their career course offerings, individual college and career plans, and school equipment grants shifted toward jobs the state has identified as high-demand, and dual enrollment students get an extra year of access to HOPE grant funds for career courses, while several older grant and reporting rules are eliminated.

• Section 1 names the bill the 'Top State for Talent Act.'
• Section 2 requires career education in grades six through 12 to include career exploration tied to the High-demand Career List and industry credentialing endorsed by Georgia employers.
• Section 3 replaces the list of 18 focused program of study clusters with 14 updated categories and requires the Department of Education and Technical College System to jointly maintain a list of required industry credentials.
• Section 5 extends the Dual Enrollment HOPE grant access program's automatic repeal date and final reporting deadline from 2027 to 2028.
• Section 6 expands the annual competitive facility grant program to cover programs aligned with the High-demand Career List.
• Section 7 renames the underlying law the 'Top State for Talent Act' (formerly the 'Building Resourceful Individuals to Develop Georgia's Economy Act').
• Sections 11 through 13 repeal an existing competitive grant program and requirements for chronically low-performing high school reform grants.
• Section 19 adds new Code Sections 34-14-4 and 34-14-5 requiring the State Workforce Development Board to produce biennial reports on program return on investment and course transferability, due by December 1 of even-numbered years.

1. 2025-05-12Effective Date 2025-07-01
2. 2025-05-12Act 117
3. 2025-05-12House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-03-28Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2025-03-28Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2025-03-25Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
8. 2025-03-21Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)

• Matthew Gambill (R, HD-015)Primary sponsor
• Lauren McDonald (R, HD-026)
• Soo Hong (R, HD-103)
• Matt Dubnik (R, HD-029)
• Will Wade (R, HD-009)
• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 21, 2025

   155 yea, 1 nay (13 not voting, 11 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #61

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 28, 2025

   48 yea, 1 nay (2 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #322

• career and technical education
• workforce development
• dual enrollment
• HOPE grants
• K-12 education policy