--- title: HB 1345. State Workforce Development Board; approval of certain eligible workforce training programs relative to implementing the federal Workforce Pell Grant program; provide collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb1345 cite_as: HB 1345, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1345 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1345.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1345/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73287 date: 2026-03-09 status: engrossed 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. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1344.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1346.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 465 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1345.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 1345 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-03-06 last_action: Senate Read and Referred sponsors: - Carmen Rice - Chuck Efstration - Sandy Donatucci - Matt Reeves - Scott Hilton - Devan Seabaugh text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1345/2025 upstream_id: 2118552 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - workforce training - Pell Grant - job training funding - State Workforce Development Board - higher education policy --- # HB 1345. State Workforce Development Board; approval of certain eligible workforce training programs relative to implementing the federal Workforce Pell Grant program; provide ## Text House Bill 1345 By: Representatives Rice of the 139th, Efstration of the 104th, Donatucci of the 105th, Reeves of the 99th, Hilton of the 48th, and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Chapter 14 of Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the State Workforce Development Board, so as to provide for the approval of certain eligible workforce training programs relative to implementing the federal Workforce Pell Grant program; to provide a definition; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date and applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Chapter 14 of Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the State Workforce Development Board, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows: "34-14-6. (a) As used in this Code section, the term 'eligible workforce training program' means a program that is an eligible program for purposes of the Workforce Pell Grant program in accordance with Section 8302 of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, P.L. 119-21, as determined by the State Workforce Development Board. (b) The Governor, in consultation with the State Workforce Development Board, shall: (1) Approve all eligible workforce training programs; and (2) Coordinate the approval of eligible workforce training programs with other federal and state workforce programs to prevent duplicative funding for the same purpose. (c) No agency or department of state government shall have the authority to adopt or promulgate any policy, rule, or regulation to implement this Code section; provided, however, that the State Workforce Development Board shall establish procedures to determine whether a program meets the requirements to be deemed an eligible workforce training program under this Code section." SECTION 2. 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 state process for approving workforce training programs that qualify for the new federal Workforce Pell Grant program, putting the Governor and State Workforce Development Board in charge of sign-off. ### Plain-language summary 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. ### What it does - 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. ### Who it affects 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. ### Why it matters 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. ### Key provisions - 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. ## Status - Status: Engrossed (2026-03-06) - Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2026-03-09) - Sponsors: Carmen Rice, Chuck Efstration, Sandy Donatucci, Matt Reeves, Scott Hilton, Devan Seabaugh - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73287 > The history, votes, and amendments (465 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1345.md?full=1