---
title: HB 1318. Labor and industrial relations; actuarial study on state based paid family and medical leave insurance program; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1318
cite_as: HB 1318, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1318
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1318.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1318/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73247
date: 2026-03-03
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: 185
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1318.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1318
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-17
last_action: House Committee Favorably Reported
sponsors:
  - Kasey Carpenter
  - Carmen Rice
  - Dewey McClain
  - Stacey Evans
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1318/2025
upstream_id: 2118577
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - paid family leave
  - labor law
  - Department of Labor
  - state budget
  - workers' benefits
---

# HB 1318. Labor and industrial relations; actuarial study on state based paid family and medical leave insurance program; provide

## Text

House Bill 1318
By: Representative Carpenter of the 4th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to labor and industrial
relations, so as to provide for an actuarial study on state based paid family and medical leave
insurance program; to provide definitions; to provide requirements; to authorize the
Department of Labor to contract with a qualified third-party actuary; to provide for contents
of the actuarial study; to provide for the Department of Labor to work in conjunction with
the Office of the State Treasurer; to provide for a deadline to complete the actuarial study;
to provide for posting of the actuarial study on the department's website; to provide for rules
and regulations; to provide for automatic repeal; to provide for related matters; to provide for
legislative findings and legislative purpose; to provide for a contingent effective date; to
repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
(a) The General Assembly finds:
(1) Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation for family and
medical leave insurance programs, and ten states have enacted legislation to create a
voluntary paid leave option;
(2) Family and medical insurance programs that include shared employee and employer
contributions, flexibility for small businesses, and opt-in opportunities for entrepreneurs
will attract and retain talent and remain competitive in an increasingly mobile national
workforce;
(3) This state's labor force participation rate has consistently lagged behind the national
average, and multiple studies show that paid family and medical leave policies help
workers connect to and remain connected to the labor force;
(4) Paid family and medical leave provides a cost-effective framework that allows workers
to maintain economic security by taking essential time needed to care for a new child, tend
to a family member with a serious health condition, address their own serious health
condition, and cope with exigencies from family members with overseas military
deployment;
(5) Most workers in this state do not have access to paid family and medical leave through
their jobs, and the vast majority are not able to take family medical leave without pay,
resulting in job loss, healthcare, injury, and loss of $1.7 billion in wages annually;
(6) The fastest growing age group in this state is the 65 years of age and older population,
and this state has the ninth fastest-growing population of residents 60 years of age and
older, which means caregiving demands will continue to rise, forcing more workers to exit
the workforce to care for their aging family members with serious medical needs;
(7) Access to paid family and medical leave supports maternal recovery and infant health
by enabling timely medical care, serving as an important tool to address this state's high
maternal and infant mortality rates; and
(8) This state is home to a robust community of small business owners who recognize that
paid leave improves employee retention, morale, and productivity, yet lack the resources
to provide this benefit on their own and require a shared solution to compete with larger
businesses.
(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly in enacting this chapter to conduct an actuarial
study to evaluate the structure and parameters for a self-sustaining, cost-effective family and
medical leave insurance program with shared employer and employee contributions.
SECTION 2.
Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to labor and industrial relations,
is amended by revising Chapter 11, which is designated as reserved, as follows:
"CHAPTER 11
34-11-1.
<ins>As used in this chapter, the term:
(1) 'Actuarial study' means the actuarial study provided for in Code Section 34-11-2.
(2) 'Commissioner' means the Commissioner of Labor.
(3) 'Department' means the Department of Labor.
(4) 'Paid family and medical leave insurance program' or 'program' means a state based
family and medical leave insurance program to provide wage replacement for family
caregiving and personal health issues.
(5) 'Qualified third-party actuary' means an individual who is not employed by the state
and who meets the qualification standards of the American Academy of Actuaries.
</ins> <del>Reserved.
</del> <ins>34-11-2.
(a) No later than October 1, 2026, the department shall contract for the services of a
qualified third-party actuary to perform an actuarial study for a paid family and medical
leave insurance program in this state, including, but not limited to, start-up costs of the
program; costs for the state to administer the program; outreach and education costs; the
</ins>
<ins>premium contributions necessary to maintain the solvency of the program for a period of
five to ten years; potential trends in claim experience over time; and total annual revenues,
expenditures, and reserves.
(b) Through the utilization of relevant data, including, but not limited to, data from other
state paid family and medical leave insurance programs, short-term disability claims, and
family and medical leave data from the federal government, and a review of the experience,
structure, and policy design of other state paid family and medical leave insurance
programs, the actuarial study shall consider the following program parameters in relation
to the premiums necessary to maintain solvency of the program:
(1) The purposes for which paid family and medical leave can be used, including, but not
limited to, bonding with a new child, caring for a child receiving care in a neonatal or
pediatric intensive care unit, caring for a family member with a serious health condition,
recovering from one's own serious health condition, addressing medical and nonmedical
needs arising from domestic violence and sexual assault, and addressing military family
and caregiving needs related to a family member's deployment;
(2) Coverage of all public, private, and nonprofit sector employees in this state within
the scope of the paid family and medical leave insurance program's rights and protections,
including a breakdown of required coverage of employees of the state and political
subdivisions thereof;
(3) Coverage of self-employed workers, at the option of the worker, within the scope of
the paid family and medical leave insurance program's rights and protections;
(4) Coverage of workers who have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours with an employer
during the previous 12 month period or earned at least 500 times the state minimum wage
from work in this state during the worker's base period or alternative base period;
(5) Utilization of an inclusive family definition to afford workers the right to take paid
family and medical leave to care for immediate members of the family, regardless of
legal or biological relation;
</ins>
<ins>(6) Use of a social insurance model for the paid family and medical leave insurance
program wherein workers and employers share the premium costs of the program at a
contribution rate of 50 percent from the employer and 50 percent from the employee and
include options to:
(A) Exempt employers with 15 or fewer employees or exempt employers with ten or
fewer employees from contributing to the program while still including their employees
within the scope of the program's coverage;
(B) Exempt self-employed workers who opt into the program from contributing the
employer portion of premium costs to the program; and
(C) Limit premium contributions to wages not exceeding the contribution and benefit
base limit established annually by the federal Social Security Administration for
purposes of the federal old-age, survivors, and disability insurance program limits
pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Section 430;
(7) A wage replacement rate that equals 90 percent of the worker's average weekly wage
for the portion of their wages equal to or less than 50 percent of the state average weekly
wage and 66 percent of the portion of the worker's average weekly wage above 50
percent of the state average weekly wage;
(8) Inclusion of an equitable maximum weekly benefit rate that adjusts annually based
on the state average weekly wage and ensures that workers can afford to take paid family
and medical leave;
(9) A maximum leave duration not below 12 weeks of leave per year and a separate
leave duration for an additional 12 weeks for a covered individual who has a child
receiving inpatient care in a neonatal or pediatric intensive care unit;
(10) A right to reinstatement for all employees upon returning from a period of paid
family and medical leave and its effect on program usage; and
(11) Based on available information provided by the state and in partnership with state
agencies, the estimated administrative costs to the state for implementing and
</ins>
<ins>administering the paid family and medical leave insurance program, including, but not
limited to, costs associated with outreach, education, enforcement, and data collection.
34-11-3.
(a) The qualified third-party actuary shall model and compare the costs, including, but not
limited to, the premium rates necessary to achieve solvency, of at least two different paid
family and medical leave insurance program models based on the policy parameters
detailed in Code Section 34-11-2. Beyond the initial startup years in which benefits are
paid out, the reserves accounted for pursuant to Code Section 34-11-2 shall be
approximately 135 percent of the benefits paid during the previous fiscal year plus an
amount equal to 100 percent of the cost of administration of the payment of such benefits
during the previous fiscal year, less the amount of net assets remaining with the paid family
and medical leave insurance programs at the end of the previous fiscal year.
(b) The qualified third-party actuary shall utilize data that is relevant to this state, such as
workforce and demographic data about the state population, as may be required to perform
the actuarial study.
(c) The qualified third-party actuary shall presume that premiums shall be collected for a
period of one year prior to the beginning of benefit payments.
(d) The actuarial study shall be completed in accordance with the relevant Actuarial
Standards of Practice promulgated by the Actuarial Standards Board.
(e) The department and the Office of State Treasurer shall work in conjunction with other
state agencies to ensure the actuarial study is effectively completed.
34-11-4.
(a) No later than January 15, 2027, the actuarial study shall be completed and shared with
the Governor, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the
</ins>
<ins>Commissioner, and the chairpersons of the House Committee on Industry and Labor and
the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee.
(b) No later than February 15, 2027, the Commissioner shall publish the actuarial study
on the department's website in a prominent location.
34-11-5.
The Commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the provisions of
this chapter.
34-11-6.
This chapter shall stand repealed and reserved on June 30, 2027."
</ins> SECTION 3.
This Act shall become effective only upon the effective date of an appropriation of funds for
purposes of this Act as expressed in a line item making specific reference to full funding of
this Act in an appropriations Act enacted by the General Assembly.
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.

House Bill 1318 would direct Georgia's Department of Labor to hire an outside actuary to study the cost and design of a possible state paid family and medical leave insurance program, with results due by early 2027.

### Plain-language summary

Georgia does not currently have a state paid family and medical leave insurance program. This bill does not create one. Instead, it adds a new, temporary chapter to Title 34 of Georgia law directing the Department of Labor to contract with an independent actuary by October 1, 2026, to study what such a program could look like and cost.
The study must examine possible program rules such as who would be covered, wage replacement rates, leave length, and a 50/50 employer-employee premium split, and estimate the premiums needed to keep the program financially solvent. The Department of Labor would work with the Office of the State Treasurer on the study, which must be finished by January 15, 2027, shared with top state officials, and posted publicly by February 15, 2027. The new chapter automatically repeals on June 30, 2027, and the whole bill only takes effect if the General Assembly separately appropriates funding for it.

### What it does

- Creates a new, temporary chapter in Title 34 of Georgia law requiring an actuarial study of a possible state paid family and medical leave insurance program.
- Requires the Department of Labor to contract with an independent, third-party actuary by October 1, 2026 to conduct the study.
- Directs the study to model at least two program designs, including cost, premium rates, wage replacement levels, leave duration, and coverage rules.
- Requires the Department of Labor to work with the Office of the State Treasurer and other state agencies to complete the study.
- Sets deadlines: the study must be finished by January 15, 2027, shared with state leaders, and posted on the department's website by February 15, 2027.
- Automatically repeals this new chapter of law on June 30, 2027, and makes the whole bill effective only if the legislature separately funds it.

### Who it affects

The Georgia Department of Labor and the Office of the State Treasurer, which must jointly run the study; a hired third-party actuary; and indirectly, Georgia workers, employers, and small businesses who would be affected if a future paid leave insurance program were eventually created based on the study's findings.

### Why it matters

No paid leave program would exist yet under this bill. Its practical effect is that Georgia would get detailed cost estimates and design options for a potential paid family and medical leave program, information lawmakers could later use to decide whether to create and fund such a program.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 lists legislative findings on labor force participation, caregiving demands, and lack of paid leave access, and states the General Assembly's intent to study a self-sustaining leave insurance program.
- Section 2 adds Code Section 34-11-1 defining terms like 'paid family and medical leave insurance program' and 'qualified third-party actuary.'
- Code Section 34-11-2 requires the study by October 1, 2026 and lists parameters to evaluate, including a 50/50 employer-employee premium split, a 90 percent wage replacement rate for lower wages, and a 12-week minimum leave duration.
- Code Section 34-11-3 requires the actuary to model at least two program designs and maintain reserves equal to about 135 percent of prior-year benefits paid.
- Code Section 34-11-4 sets a January 15, 2027 deadline to deliver the study to state leaders and a February 15, 2027 deadline to post it publicly.
- Code Section 34-11-6 automatically repeals this entire chapter of law on June 30, 2027.
- Section 3 makes the entire Act effective only if the General Assembly passes a specific appropriation fully funding it.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2026-02-17)
- Last action: House Committee Favorably Reported (2026-03-03)
- Sponsors: Kasey Carpenter, Carmen Rice, Dewey McClain, Stacey Evans
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73247

> The history, votes, and amendments (185 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1318.md?full=1