--- title: HB 1394. Community Affairs, Department of; ensure that Rosenwald Schools are treated as historic properties collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb1394 cite_as: HB 1394, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1394 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1394.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1394/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73432 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. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1393.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1395.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 185 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1394.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 1394 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-02-19 last_action: House Committee Favorably Reported sponsors: - Mack Jackson - Floyd Griffin - David Sampson - Regina Lewis-Ward - Al Williams - Patty Stinson text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1394/2025 upstream_id: 2120637 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - historic preservation - Rosenwald Schools - Black history - state grants - Department of Community Affairs --- # HB 1394. Community Affairs, Department of; ensure that Rosenwald Schools are treated as historic properties ## Text House Bill 1394 By: Representatives Jackson of the 128th, Griffin of the 149th, Sampson of the 153rd, Lewis- Ward of the 115th, Williams of the 168th, and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Code Section 12-3-58 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to powers, duties, and authority of the Department of Community Affairs and historic preservation grant program, so as to ensure that Rosenwald Schools are treated as historic properties for the purpose of the historic preservation grant program and historic preservation grant fund; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Code Section 12-3-58 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to powers, duties, and authority of the Department of Community Affairs and historic preservation grant program, is amended by revising paragraph (5) of subsection (a) as follows: "(5) 'Historic property' means a district, site, building, structure, monument, or object significant in prehistory, history, upland and underwater archeology, architecture, engineering, or culture of this state, including artifacts, records, and remains related to a district, site, structure, or object. For purposes of this paragraph, sites significant in the history of this state shall be deemed to include without limitation combat veterans' gravesites and Rosenwald Schools in this state." 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 add Rosenwald Schools to the legal definition of 'historic property,' making them eligible for the state's historic preservation grant program. ### Plain-language summary Georgia's historic preservation grant program, run by the Department of Community Affairs, gives money to preserve certain historic properties. State law (O.C.G.A. § 12-3-58) defines what counts as a 'historic property' eligible for these grants, and currently that definition specifically calls out combat veterans' gravesites as included sites of historical significance. This bill would add Rosenwald Schools to that same list. Rosenwald Schools were schools built in the early 1900s to educate Black children in the rural South. By naming them in the statute, the bill would make clear that these schools qualify as historic properties under Georgia law, allowing them to be considered for historic preservation grant funding alongside other recognized historic sites. ### What it does - Amends the definition of 'historic property' in Georgia's historic preservation law (O.C.G.A. § 12-3-58) to explicitly include Rosenwald Schools. - Places Rosenwald Schools in the same statutory category as combat veterans' gravesites, both named as historically significant sites under the law. - Makes Rosenwald Schools eligible for consideration under the Department of Community Affairs' historic preservation grant program and grant fund. ### Who it affects This bill affects the Department of Community Affairs, which administers the historic preservation grant program, along with owners, communities, and preservation groups caring for Rosenwald Schools in Georgia who may now seek state grant funding to maintain or restore these buildings. ### Why it matters By formally classifying Rosenwald Schools as historic properties, the bill would open the door for these buildings, many tied to the history of Black education in the segregation-era South, to receive state preservation grant money they might not have clearly qualified for before. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises paragraph (5) of subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. § 12-3-58, the section defining 'historic property' for the grant program. - The revised definition adds 'Rosenwald Schools in this state' to the existing list that already includes combat veterans' gravesites as deemed historically significant sites. - Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard clause with no substantive effect beyond this bill's change. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2026-02-19) - Last action: House Committee Favorably Reported (2026-03-03) - Sponsors: Mack Jackson, Floyd Griffin, David Sampson, Regina Lewis-Ward, Al Williams, Patty Stinson - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73432 > The history, votes, and amendments (185 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1394.md?full=1