HB 1345: State Workforce Development Board; approval of certain eligible workforce training programs relative to implementing the federal Workforce Pell Grant program; provide

The federal government's One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 created a new type of financial aid called the Workforce Pell Grant, which can pay for short-term job training programs instead of only traditional college programs. States need a way to decide which training programs in Georgia qualify for this federal money. This bill adds a new section to Georgia's workforce law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 14 of Title 34) defining an 'eligible workforce training program' as one that meets the federal Workforce Pell Grant program's requirements, as determined by the State Workforce Development Board. It puts the Governor, working with the Board, in charge of approving these programs and coordinating with other federal and state workforce programs so the same training doesn't get funded twice. No other state agency may write rules to carry this out, except the Board, which must set procedures for deciding what counts as eligible.

• Creates a new Georgia law defining 'eligible workforce training program' based on the federal Workforce Pell Grant program created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025.
• Gives the Governor, working with the State Workforce Development Board, sole authority to approve eligible workforce training programs in Georgia.
• Requires the Governor and Board to coordinate approvals with other state and federal workforce programs to avoid paying for the same training twice.
• Blocks any other state agency or department from writing rules or regulations to implement this new approval process.
• Requires the State Workforce Development Board to set its own procedures for deciding whether a training program qualifies as eligible.

The Governor's office and the State Workforce Development Board, which gain new approval duties; technical colleges, workforce training providers, and other institutions seeking to offer Workforce Pell Grant eligible programs; and students who may use federal Workforce Pell Grants to pay for short-term training in Georgia.

Whether a training program gets approved determines if students there can use the new federal Workforce Pell Grant to pay for it. Centralizing approval with the Governor and Board, rather than leaving it to multiple agencies, shapes which programs and providers can access this new pool of federal financial aid money in Georgia.

• Section 1 adds new Code Section 34-14-6 to Chapter 14 of Title 34, defining 'eligible workforce training program' by reference to Section 8302 of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (P.L. 119-21).
• Subsection (b) requires the Governor, in consultation with the State Workforce Development Board, to approve all eligible workforce training programs and coordinate with other workforce programs to prevent duplicate funding.
• Subsection (c) bars any other state agency or department from adopting rules to implement the section, but requires the Board to set its own procedures for determining eligibility.
• Section 2 repeals any existing state laws that conflict with this new provision.

1. 2026-03-09Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-03-06House Passed/Adopted (House)
3. 2026-03-06House Third Readers (House)
4. 2026-02-26House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
5. 2026-02-19House Second Readers (House)
6. 2026-02-18House First Readers (House)
7. 2026-02-17House Hopper (House)

• Carmen Rice (R, HD-139)Primary sponsor
• Chuck Efstration (R, HD-104)
• Sandy Donatucci (R, HD-105)
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-099)
• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)
• Devan Seabaugh (R, HD-034)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 6, 2026

   168 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 4 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #654

• workforce training
• Pell Grant
• job training funding
• State Workforce Development Board
• higher education policy