---
title: HB 1098. Georgia Investment Act; enact
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1098
cite_as: HB 1098, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1098
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1098.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1098/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72614
date: 2026-02-03
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1098.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1098
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-01-29
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Viola Davis
- Sandra Scott
- Kim Schofield
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1098/2025
upstream_id: 2102341
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- economic development funding
- OneGeorgia Authority
- rural and urban investment
- legislative oversight
- county funding eligibility
---
# HB 1098. Georgia Investment Act; enact
## Text
House Bill 1098
By: Representatives Davis of the 87th, Scott of the 76th, and Schofield of the 63rd
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 34 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the
OneGeorgia Authority, so as to create the Georgia Investment Act Pilot Fund and the Joint
Legislative Oversight Commission on Georgia United Investment; to provide for definitions;
to provide for state investment in underdeveloped communities across this state; to provide
for criteria and limitations for disbursements from such fund; to provide for annual
accounting; to provide for annual reporting; to provide for members and purpose of the
commission; to provide for meetings and hearings; to provide for quorum; to provide for a
short title; to provide for legislative findings; to provide for related matters; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Georgia Investment Act."
SECTION 2.
The General Assembly finds that:
(1) The OneGeorgia Authority was established to support economic vitality across
Georgia, particularly in communities with limited access to financial resources;
(2) As of 2025, more than 4.3 million Georgians, over 25 percent of the state's population,
reside in counties that are ineligible or only conditionally eligible for OneGeorgia funding;
(3) These exclusions have led to missed opportunities in job creation, infrastructure
development, and housing, particularly in high-need urban and suburban areas;
(4) Georgia's economic development strategy must reflect modern needs, using objective
measures such as poverty, unemployment, and underinvestment; and
(5) The state has a duty to invest in all Georgians, whether rural, urban, and suburban, to
ensure a resilient, unified economy.
SECTION 3.
Chapter 34 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia annotated, relating to OneGeorgia
Authority, is amended by adding new Code sections to read as follows:
"50-34-21.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term 'fund' means the Georgia Investment Act Pilot
Fund.
(b)(1) The state treasurer shall establish a separate trust fund in the state treasury that
shall be known as the Georgia Investment Act Pilot Fund. Such fund shall consist of
annual appropriations by the General Assembly to the fund; public or private grants, gifts,
donations, or contributions dedicated to the fund for the economic development of
impoverished communities; and moneys acquired from any other source, including local,
state, or federal program funds dedicated to the fund for such economic development.
(2) The state treasurer shall invest the money held in the fund in the same manner in
which state funds are invested as authorized by the State Depository Board pursuant to
Article 3 of Chapter 17 of this title. Interest earned by the money held in the fund shall
be accounted for separately and shall be credited to the fund to be disbursed as other
moneys in the fund.
(c)(1) The authority shall establish an eligibility framework for disbursements to counties
from the fund based upon the following criteria:
(A) Median household income below the state average;
(B) Unemployment rate above the state average;
(C) Poverty rate exceeding the state threshold;
(D) Infrastructure or service gaps certified by local or state agencies; and
(E) Documented history or economic dislocation or underinvestment.
(2) Any county meeting three or more of the criteria as provided in paragraph (1) of this
subsection shall be deemed eligible to receive money from the fund, regardless of such
county's designation as rural or nonrural.
(d) The authority shall prepare an accounting of the funds expended pursuant to this Code
section during the most recently completed fiscal year to be provided to the Office of
Planning and Budget, the House Budget and Research Office, and the Senate Budget and
Evaluation Office by January 1 of each year.
(e) The authority shall publish an annual report documenting the number of county
applications, awards, and disbursements; project categories and demographic service areas;
and job creation and housing development metrics.
50-34-22.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term 'commission' means the Joint Legislative
Oversight Commission on Georgia United Investment.
(b) There is established the Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on Georgia United
Investment, which is created to monitor the administration of the Georgia Investment Act
Pilot Fund. The commission shall consist of 14 members as follows:
(1) The chairperson of the Clayton County Board of Commissioners or his or her
representative;
(2) The chairperson of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners or his or her
representative;
(3) The chief executive officer of DeKalb County or his or her representative;
(4) The chairperson of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners or his or her
representative;
(5) The president of the Fayette County Development Authority or his or her
representative;
(6) The chairperson of the Fulton County Development Authority or his or her
representative;
(7) The chairperson of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners or his or her
representative;
(8) The chairperson of the Rockdale County Board of Commissioners or his or her
representative;
(9) Two members to be appointed by the minority leader of the House of
Representatives;
(10) Two members to be appointed by the President of the Senate;
(11) Two members to be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate.
(c) The chairperson of the commission shall be elected by majority vote of a quorum of
the commission.
(d) As to members of the commission appointed under paragraphs (9), (10), and (11) of
subsection (b) of this Code section, such members shall be appointed for terms of four
years and until their successors are appointed and qualified. All such appointments shall
be made no later than 90 days following the effective date of this Code section. A vacancy
in the membership of the commission shall be filled in the same manner as the original
position was filled.
(e) Members of the commission shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed
for expenses actually incurred in the performance of their duties, within the limit of money
appropriated to the fund or otherwise made available to the commission for its purposes.
(f) The commission shall conduct meetings and hold hearings at such places and at such
times as it may deem necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively
its powers, perform its duties, and accomplish the objectives and purposes of this Code
section. The commission shall meet upon the call of the chairperson. A majority of the
members of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of the business
of the commission."
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia House bill would create a new Georgia Investment Act Pilot Fund inside the OneGeorgia Authority to send state money to counties with high poverty or unemployment, plus a legislative oversight commission to watch how it's spent.
### Plain-language summary
The OneGeorgia Authority currently helps fund economic development mostly in rural counties, and the bill's sponsors say more than 4.3 million Georgians live in counties that get little or no access to that money because they are urban or suburban. House Bill 1098 creates a new Georgia Investment Act Pilot Fund, held in the state treasury, funded by state appropriations, grants, gifts, and other public or private money, to pay for economic development in underdeveloped communities regardless of whether they are rural or not.
Counties become eligible if they meet at least three of five criteria: below-average median household income, above-average unemployment, poverty above a state threshold, certified infrastructure or service gaps, or a documented history of economic dislocation. The bill also creates a 14-member Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on Georgia United Investment, made up mostly of metro-Atlanta county officials and legislative appointees, to monitor the fund. The Authority must report spending annually to state budget offices and publish a public report on awards and outcomes.
### What it does
- Creates the Georgia Investment Act Pilot Fund in the state treasury, funded by state appropriations, grants, gifts, and other public or private contributions dedicated to economic development.
- Sets a five-factor eligibility test for counties (income, unemployment, poverty, infrastructure gaps, history of underinvestment) and makes any county meeting three of the five eligible, regardless of rural or nonrural status.
- Requires the OneGeorgia Authority to give the Office of Planning and Budget and legislative budget offices an annual accounting of fund spending by January 1 each year.
- Requires the Authority to publish an annual public report on county applications, awards, project categories, and job and housing outcomes.
- Creates a 14-member Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on Georgia United Investment, mostly metro-Atlanta county officials plus legislative appointees, to monitor the fund's administration.
- Sets commission member terms at four years, requires appointments within 90 days of the law taking effect, and allows reimbursement of expenses but no salary.
### Who it affects
Counties currently excluded or only partly eligible for OneGeorgia Authority funding, especially urban and suburban counties, would gain access to a new funding stream. County commissioners and development authority officials in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Rockdale counties would serve on the oversight commission, along with legislative appointees.
### Why it matters
Communities with high poverty or unemployment that currently cannot tap OneGeorgia Authority money could apply for state-backed economic development funding for job creation, infrastructure, and housing. The new oversight commission and annual public reporting would let legislators and residents track how the money is awarded and spent.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 names the law the Georgia Investment Act.
- Section 2 lays out legislative findings, citing OneGeorgia Authority eligibility gaps affecting over 4.3 million Georgians in excluded or conditionally eligible counties.
- New Code Section 50-34-21 creates the Georgia Investment Act Pilot Fund in the state treasury, invested the same way as other state funds, with interest credited back to the fund.
- Section 50-34-21(c) sets the five eligibility criteria and requires a county to meet at least three to qualify for disbursements.
- Section 50-34-21(d) and (e) require an annual accounting to state budget offices by January 1 and a public annual report on applications, awards, and outcomes.
- New Code Section 50-34-22 creates the 14-member Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on Georgia United Investment, listing specific county officials and legislative appointees.
- Section 50-34-22(d) sets four-year terms for appointed members and a 90-day deadline for initial appointments after the law's effective date.
- Section 4 repeals conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-01-29)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-02-03)
- Sponsors: Viola Davis, Sandra Scott, Kim Schofield
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72614
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1098.md?full=1