---
title: HB 1604. Quality Basic Education Act; require the task force reviewing the effectiveness of existing program weights to meet every two years rather than every three years
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1604
cite_as: HB 1604, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1604
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1604.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1604/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74420
date: 2026-03-31
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: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1604.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1604
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-03-25
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Marvin Lim
- Karen Lupton
- David Wilkerson
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1604/2025
upstream_id: 2138471
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- school funding
- education policy
- teacher pay
- Quality Basic Education Act
---
# HB 1604. Quality Basic Education Act; require the task force reviewing the effectiveness of existing program weights to meet every two years rather than every three years
## Text
House Bill 1604
By: Representatives Lim of the 98th, Lupton of the 83rd, and Wilkerson of the 38th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Code Section 20-2-161 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the
Quality Basic Education Formula, so as to require the task force reviewing the effectiveness
of existing program weights under the "Quality Basic Education Act" to meet every two
years rather than every three years; to require such task force to prepare and submit a report;
to provide for the requirements of such report; to provide for related matters; to provide an
effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Code Section 20-2-161 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Quality
Basic Education Formula, is amended by revising subsection (f) as follows:
"(f) As the relative costs of the various program components will change over time and as
some components will need to be added or removed, the Governor shall appoint a task
force every three two years, effective on the first day of each biennium of the General
Assembly, for the purposes of reviewing the effectiveness of existing program weights and
recommending to the General Assembly any changes needed. This task force shall be
comprised composed of members or staff of the General Assembly, the State Board of
Education, the Governor's office, and representatives of local school systems. The task
force shall prepare and submit a report to the Governor by December 1 of the first year of
each biennium. The report shall include, but shall not be limited to:
(1) Data on the how teacher certification and years of teaching experience correlate to
actual teacher costs;
(2) An analysis of the correlations among a teacher's certification, educational
attainment, years of teaching experience, and salary; and
(3) Recommended changes, if any, to this Code section or Code Sections 20-2-874
through 20-2-930."
SECTION 2.
This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2027.
SECTION 3.
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 require the task force that reviews public school funding formula weights to meet every two years instead of every three, and would require it to submit a detailed report to the Governor.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia's Quality Basic Education Act (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-161) sets up a task force, appointed by the Governor, that periodically reviews how the state weights different program costs in its school funding formula and recommends changes to the General Assembly. Currently that task force meets every three years.
This bill would shorten that cycle to every two years, timed to start on the first day of each two-year General Assembly term. It also adds a new requirement that the task force prepare and submit a report to the Governor by December 1 of the first year of each two-year cycle. The report must include data on how teacher certification and years of experience relate to actual teacher costs, an analysis of how certification, education level, experience, and salary correlate, and any recommended changes to the funding formula law. The changes would take effect July 1, 2027.
### What it does
- Shortens the task force's review cycle from every three years to every two years, timed to the start of each General Assembly biennium.
- Adds a new requirement that the task force submit a written report to the Governor by December 1 of the first year of each two-year cycle.
- Requires the report to include data on how teacher certification and experience relate to actual teacher costs.
- Requires the report to analyze correlations among a teacher's certification, education level, years of experience, and salary.
- Requires the report to include any recommended changes to the funding formula law or related teacher salary code sections.
- Sets the changes to take effect July 1, 2027.
### Who it affects
The task force members themselves, drawn from the General Assembly, the State Board of Education, the Governor's office, and local school systems, along with the Governor's office, which appoints the task force and receives its report. The changes indirectly affect how school funding formula decisions, including teacher pay factors, are reviewed statewide.
### Why it matters
A more frequent review cycle and a formal, detailed report could make changes to school funding weights and teacher pay factors more visible and more regularly reconsidered by state officials, potentially speeding up how quickly funding formula adjustments reach the General Assembly for consideration.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-161(f) to change the task force's meeting requirement from every three years to every two years, aligned to the start of each General Assembly biennium.
- Section 1 also updates wording describing the task force's membership from 'comprised' to 'composed' of General Assembly members or staff, State Board of Education representatives, the Governor's office, and local school system representatives.
- Section 1 adds a new reporting requirement: the task force must submit a report to the Governor by December 1 of the first year of each biennium.
- The required report must cover teacher certification and experience data as it relates to teacher costs, correlations among certification, education, experience, and salary, and recommended changes to the funding formula or teacher salary code sections (O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2-874 through 20-2-930).
- Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2027.
- Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-03-25)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-03-31)
- Sponsors: Marvin Lim, Karen Lupton, David Wilkerson
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74420
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1604.md?full=1