Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 192: Top State for Talent Act; enact
Last action July 1, 2025 · Effective Date
House Bill 192, the Top State for Talent Act, rewrites how Georgia's schools and colleges align career and technical education with the state's list of high-demand jobs, updating career course requirements, grant rules, and workforce reporting.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Georgia already runs career and technical education programs in schools, dual enrollment options, and a state list of high-demand jobs, but the bill rewrites how these pieces connect. It requires the State Board of Education's career education courses for grades six through 12 to include learning tied to the High-demand Career List kept by the State Workforce Development Board (O.C.G.A. § 34-14-3), replaces the old list of 18 focused programs of study with a new 14-category list, and ties school capital outlay grants for career program equipment to that high-demand list instead of the old certification criteria. The bill also renames student 'graduation plans' as 'individual college and career plans,' extends the Dual Enrollment HOPE grant pilot program and its repeal date from 2027 to 2028, repeals several outdated Code sections including one on chronically low-performing high schools, and renames the underlying law the 'Top State for Talent Act.' It adds new reporting and return-on-investment review requirements for the Workforce Development Board due each even-numbered year.
What the bill does
- Requires the State Board of Education's grades six through 12 career education courses to include learning experiences tied to the High-demand Career List published by the State Workforce Development Board.
- Replaces the existing 18-category list of focused career programs of study with a new 14-category list aligned to the High-demand Career List.
- Extends the Dual Enrollment HOPE grant pilot program's final report deadline and automatic repeal date from 2027 to 2028.
- Ties the State Board of Education's annual competitive equipment and renovation grants for career programs to alignment with the High-demand Career List instead of prior certification criteria.
- Renames student 'individual graduation plans' as 'individual college and career plans' and adds requirements to use GAfutures.org and the Georgia MATCH college admissions program.
- Repeals several Code sections, including one on chronically low-performing high schools and one giving the Technical College System Board power to report transferable course lists, and creates new Workforce Development Board reporting duties.
Who it affects
Public middle and high school students and their parents, school counselors and teacher advisers, the Department of Education, the State Board of Education, the Technical College System of Georgia, the University System of Georgia, the Georgia Student Finance Commission, and the State Workforce Development Board.
Why it matters
Students would see their career planning tied more directly to jobs the state identifies as high-demand, and schools applying for equipment grants would need to show alignment with that list. Dual enrollment students get an extra year of HOPE grant access for career courses under the pilot program.
Key provisions
- Section 1 names the law the 'Top State for Talent Act.'
- Section 2 requires career exploration in grades six through 12 to include programs on the High-demand Career List (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-145.1).
- Section 3 replaces the 18 existing focused programs of study with 14 new categories and requires alignment with the High-demand Career List (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-159.1).
- Section 5 extends the Dual Enrollment HOPE grant program's final report deadline and repeal date from 2027 to 2028.
- Section 6 changes the criteria for the State Board of Education's annual competitive equipment grant program to require alignment with the High-demand Career List.
- Section 8 renames 'graduation plan' to 'individual college and career plan' and adds definitions for GAfutures.org and Georgia MATCH.
- Sections 11 through 13 repeal a competitive grant program, chronically low-performing high school grant requirements, and related rules.
- Section 18 revises how the High-demand Career List is developed, requiring coordination among multiple state education agencies and annual submission to state leaders.
From the bill
“This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Top State for Talent Act."”
“All state agencies and political subdivisions of the state, including local school systems, shall utilize the High-demand Career List to inform their use of federal and state funding for secondary, postsecondary, and adult education programs”
Discussed in meetings (1)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House Rural Development Committee, June 11, 2026
From 1:07:34 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: A Georgia Association of Manufacturers representative credited HB 192 with adding manufacturing to the education curriculum. The representative described that change as helpful to the association's efforts to address worker shortages and introduce students to manufacturing careers, including routes through technical education rather than a four-year degree. No questions, amendments or vote on the bill followed.
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 117
- House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- House Sent to Governor (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- Senate Third Read (Senate)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
Show full history (15 actions)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Matthew Gambill (R, HD-15)
- Lauren McDonald III (R, HD-26)
- Soo Hong (R, HD-103)
- Matt Dubnik (R, HD-29)
- Will Wade (R, HD-9)
- Drew Echols (R, SD-49)
Votes
- House voteFebruary 21, 2025
155 yea, 1 nay (13 not voting, 11 excused)
- Senate voteMarch 28, 2025
48 yea, 1 nay (2 not voting, 5 excused)
Topics
- career and technical education
- workforce development
- dual enrollment
- school funding
- high-demand jobs