HB 1178: Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight Committee of the House of Representatives; establish

Georgia law currently has a reserved, unused section (O.C.G.A. § 28-5-5) in the state's general financial affairs statute. This bill fills that section by creating a new House committee called the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight Committee, made up of 19 House members including the chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations. Members would be chosen within ten days of the General Assembly convening in odd-numbered years, and the Speaker of the House would appoint the committee's chairperson. The committee's job would be to work with the Governor and the Office of Planning and Budget on strategic planning, review state agency spending and liabilities, and issue an annual report and executive summaries before the state budget (the General Appropriations Act) is adopted each year. It could request performance audits of any state or local government entity that receives state funding, and could call elected officials, agency heads, county officials, or school superintendents to testify. Committee members would receive standard legislative allowances paid from the House's budget.

• Creates a new 19-member House committee, the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight Committee, to review state budget and spending matters.
• Requires the committee to consult with the Governor and the Office of Planning and Budget on strategic planning and program evaluation.
• Directs the committee to review state and department strategic plans, unbudgeted spending reports, and state and agency liabilities.
• Requires the Office of Planning and Budget and other state agencies to cooperate and provide information the committee requests.
• Authorizes the committee to request third-party performance audits of any state or local government entity receiving state funds, paid for through House funds with the Speaker's approval.
• Gives the committee power, at the Speaker's discretion, to summon elected officials, agency heads, county officials, or school superintendents to address its findings.

This bill affects members of the Georgia House of Representatives who would serve on the new committee, the Governor's office and the Office of Planning and Budget, state agencies and departments, and local officials such as county commissioners, county managers, and school superintendents who could be called before the committee.

The bill gives House lawmakers a standing, year-round mechanism to scrutinize state agency spending, liabilities, and strategic plans, and to trigger outside performance audits of entities receiving state money, before the legislature finalizes the state budget each year.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 28-5-5 to establish the 19-member committee, including the House Appropriations chairperson, with members chosen within ten days of convening in odd-numbered years.
• Subsection (b) lets the Speaker appoint the chairperson and allows up to nine meetings a year between sessions, plus additional meetings the chairperson calls with Speaker approval.
• Subsections (c) and (d) task the committee with reviewing strategic plans, unbudgeted spending reports, and state and departmental liabilities.
• Subsection (f) requires an annual report and pre-budget executive summaries to the Speaker and the Appropriations chairperson.
• Subsection (g) pays committee members standard legislative committee allowances from House-appropriated funds.
• Subsection (h) allows the committee to request third-party performance audits of any state or local entity receiving state funding, subject to Speaker approval of funding.
• Subsection (i) lets the committee, at the Speaker's discretion, call officials such as county commissioners and school superintendents to address its findings.
• Section 2 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-06Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-03-04House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
3. 2026-03-04House Third Readers (House)
4. 2026-02-25House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
5. 2026-02-05House Second Readers (House)
6. 2026-02-04House First Readers (House)
7. 2026-02-03House Hopper (House)

• Mitchell Horner (R, HD-003)Primary sponsor
• Steve Tarvin (R, HD-002)
• Holt Persinger (R, HD-119)
• Mitchell Scoggins (R, HD-014)
• Jason Ridley (R, HD-006)
• Charlice Byrd (R, HD-020)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2026

   158 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 18 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #647

• state budget oversight
• legislative committees
• government accountability
• performance audits
• Georgia House of Representatives