Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 1026: Valdosta, City of; Board of Education; provide compensation
Last action June 1, 2026 · Effective Date
A bill from the Georgia General Assembly would set monthly pay for members of the City of Valdosta Board of Education, giving the chairperson $650 a month and other members $600 a month.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
This bill sets specific pay amounts for the elected members of the City of Valdosta Board of Education, which oversees public schools in Valdosta. The chairperson would receive $650 per month, and each of the other board members would receive $600 per month. The bill specifies that this compensation must come only from local tax funds, not from state or federal school funding. It would take effect on the first day of the month after the Governor signs it or it otherwise becomes law without a signature, and it repeals any existing laws that conflict with these new pay amounts.
What the bill does
- Sets the chairperson of the City of Valdosta Board of Education's pay at $650.00 per month.
- Sets pay for the other members of the City of Valdosta Board of Education at $600.00 per month.
- Requires that this compensation be paid only from local tax funds, not other funding sources.
- Repeals any prior laws that conflict with these new compensation amounts.
Who it affects
The chairperson and other members of the City of Valdosta Board of Education, who would receive the specified monthly pay, and local taxpayers in Valdosta, whose local tax funds would cover the compensation.
Why it matters
The bill formally fixes how much Valdosta's school board members are paid for their public service, replacing whatever prior compensation arrangement existed, and confirms the money comes from local taxes rather than any other funding source.
Key provisions
- Section 1 sets the chairperson's pay at $650.00 per month and other board members' pay at $600.00 per month, funded only through local tax funds.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as the first day of the month following the Governor's approval or the bill becoming law without approval.
- Section 3 repeals any existing laws that conflict with this Act.
From the bill
“The chairperson of the City of Valdosta Board of Education shall be compensated in the amount of $650.00 per month.”
“The compensation of the chairperson and other members of the board shall be paid only from the local tax funds.”
Discussed in meetings (5)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House floor session, February 6, 2026 (legislative day 14)
From 0:54:47 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 429
Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk read a committee recommendation to pass HB 1026 and later identified it as a City of Valdosta bill on the uncontested local calendar. There was no separate presentation or debate. The House passed it with the other local bills in a single vote of 165 to 0.
- Read aloud: House floor session, January 28, 2026 (legislative day 8), 0:30:30
- Read aloud: House floor session, January 29, 2026 (legislative day 9), 0:53:39
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 9, 2026 (legislative day 15), 0:25:45
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 17, 2026 (legislative day 19), 0:34:36
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 533
- House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- House Sent to Governor (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
Show full history (13 actions)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Dexter Sharper (D, HD-177)
- John Corbett (R, HD-174)
- John LaHood (R, HD-175)
- James Burchett (R, HD-176)
Votes
- House voteFebruary 6, 2026
165 yea, 0 nay (7 not voting, 5 excused)
- Senate voteFebruary 17, 2026
48 yea, 1 nay (2 not voting, 3 excused)
Topics
- Valdosta schools
- school board pay
- local government compensation
- education governance