HB727: HB727 Administrative Services, Department of; post-employment restriction for state employees involved in state purchasing; provide

Currently, Georgia law does not stop state employees who work on government purchasing contracts from immediately going to work for the companies they awarded or managed those contracts for. HB 727 would add a new section to the state purchasing law (O.C.G.A. § 50-5-86) creating a 12 month post employment restriction. Any state agency employee who takes part in soliciting, negotiating, or administering a contract for goods or services would be barred from accepting a job with the vendor or contractor tied to that contract for a full year after leaving state employment. The bill defines 'employment' broadly to include consulting or independent contractor work, and defines 'state agency' to cover any state department, agency, board, commission, authority, or political subdivision. The restriction would apply to jobs starting on or after the bill's effective date, which would be as soon as the Governor signs it or it otherwise becomes law, and would also cover renewals, modifications, or extensions of such employment.

• Creates a new 12 month waiting period before a state employee involved in purchasing contracts can work for a vendor or contractor tied to those contracts.
• Defines 'participates' broadly to include decision-making in developing, negotiating, evaluating, awarding, or managing state contracts.
• Defines 'employment' to include consulting or independent contractor work, closing off that route around the restriction.
• Applies the restriction to any state department, agency, board, commission, authority, or political subdivision, not just a single agency.
• Sets the law to take effect as soon as the Governor signs it, applying to new jobs, renewals, or extensions starting on or after that date.

State employees who work on soliciting, negotiating, evaluating, or managing state purchasing contracts, along with the private vendors and contractors who do business with Georgia state agencies and might otherwise hire those employees right after they leave state service.

Georgians would gain a safeguard meant to reduce the chance that a state purchasing employee steers a contract toward a company in exchange for a future job offer. Vendors would need to wait a year before hiring former state staff who worked on their contracts, changing hiring plans for both sides.

• Adds a new Code section, O.C.G.A. § 50-5-86, to the part of state law governing the Department of Administrative Services' purchasing authority.
• Subsection (a) defines 'employment', 'participates', and 'state agency' for purposes of the restriction.
• Subsection (b) is the operative rule: it bars a state employee who participated in a contract's solicitation, negotiation, or administration from taking a job with the related vendor or contractor for 12 months after leaving state employment.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as the date of the Governor's approval (or the date the bill becomes law without approval) and applies it to employment starting on or after that date, including renewals and extensions.

1. 2025-03-10House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-03-06House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-03-04House Hopper (House)

• Bruce Williamson (R, HD-112)Primary sponsor
• Chuck Efstration (R, HD-104)
• Rob Leverett (R, HD-123)
• Houston Gaines (R, HD-120)
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-099)

• government ethics
• state purchasing
• conflict of interest
• public employees
• procurement rules