HB 1038: Georgia Promise Scholarship Act; repeal Article 2 of Chapter 2B; provide

The Georgia Promise Scholarship Act currently allows eligible students to receive up to $6,500.00 in state funds to pay for qualified education expenses, including private school tuition. This bill would repeal that program, found in Article 2 of Chapter 2B of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, but the repeal would not take effect until June 30, 2027, applying starting with the 2027-2028 school year. Before that repeal takes effect, the bill directs the Secretary of State to hold a nonbinding advisory referendum on the November 2026 election ballot, asking voters whether the General Assembly should repeal the program. The results would be reported to the Governor and General Assembly. The bill also states the General Assembly keeps full authority to revisit funding for qualified education expenses through future legislation, including possible review during the 2027 session. Other sections of the bill, aside from the repeal itself, take effect immediately upon the Governor's signature or becoming law without it.

• Repeals Article 2 of Chapter 2B of Title 20, the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, effective June 30, 2027, applying starting with the 2027-2028 school year.
• Requires the Secretary of State to call and conduct a nonbinding advisory referendum in November 2026 asking voters whether the scholarship program should be repealed.
• Specifies the exact ballot language voters would see, referencing the program's up to $6,500.00 award for qualified education expenses including private school tuition.
• Requires the Secretary of State to tabulate, certify, and report the referendum results to the Governor and General Assembly.
• Preserves the General Assembly's authority to pass further legislation on state funding for qualified education expenses, with review contemplated at the 2027 session.
• Makes the referendum and other administrative provisions effective immediately upon the Governor's signature, while delaying the actual repeal until 2027.

Students and families currently eligible for or receiving Georgia Promise Scholarship funds, private schools that accept the scholarship for tuition, the Secretary of State's office, which must run the referendum, and the General Assembly and Governor, who would receive and act on the results.

If enacted, the scholarship program would stop covering the 2027-2028 school year, ending a funding option families currently use for private school tuition and other education costs. The advisory referendum would let voters weigh in, though the General Assembly is not bound by the result.

• Section 1 repeals Article 2 of Chapter 2B of Title 20, which contains the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act.
• Section 2 requires the Secretary of State to hold an advisory referendum during the November 2026 election, sets the exact ballot wording, and requires certification of results to the Governor and General Assembly, with the state bearing election costs.
• Section 3 states the General Assembly retains authority over qualified education expense funding and anticipates further legislative review at the 2027 session or later.
• Section 4 is a severability clause protecting the rest of the Act if any part is found unconstitutional.
• Section 5 sets the repeal's effective date as June 30, 2027, applying to the 2027-2028 school year onward, while all other sections take effect upon the Governor's approval or becoming law without it.
• Section 6 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-01-29House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-01-28House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-01-27House Hopper (House)

• Floyd Griffin (D, HD-149)Primary sponsor
• Carolyn Hugley (D, HD-141)
• Tanya Miller (D, HD-062)
• Viola Davis (D, HD-087)
• Bryce Berry (D, HD-056)
• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)

• Georgia Promise Scholarship
• school vouchers
• private school tuition
• ballot referendum
• education funding