---
title: Sen Floor Amend 1 AM 61 0014 to HB 217
collection: amendment
id: amendment:2025-2026/hb217/238061
cite_as: HB 217, Sen Floor Amend 1 AM 61 0014
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb217/amendments/238061
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb217/amendments/238061.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb217/amendments/238061/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/238061
date: 2026-09-25
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, from its website (legis.ga.gov)
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
version: Sen Floor Amend 1 AM 61 0014
version_id: amendment:2025-2026/hb217/238061@238061
---

# Sen Floor Amend 1 AM 61 0014 to HB 217

ADOPTED
Senators Hatchett of the 50th, Echols of the 49th, and Dolezal of the 27th offered the
following amendment #1:
Amend HB 217 (LC 61 0210S) by deleting "Chapter 4 of" on line 1.
By deleting "vocational, technical, and adult" on line 2 and inserting after "so as" the
following:
to update provisions relating to ineligibility for election to a local board of education; to
provide for the education savings authority to make limited disclosures to the Department
of Revenue for purposes of verifying income as compared to income thresholds;
By replacing lines 11 through 13 with the following:
Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to education, is amended in
Code Section 20-2-51, relating to election of local board of education members, persons
ineligible to be members of superintendent, ineligibility for local boards of education, and
ineligibility for other elective offices, by revising subparagraph (c)(4)(B) as follows:
"(B) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-244, in local school systems
in which the <del>initial fall</del> <ins>current</ins> enrollment count conducted <del>in 2009</del> pursuant to Code
Section 20-2-160 does not exceed a full-time equivalent count of 2,800, the State Board
of Education shall be authorized to waive this paragraph upon the request of a local
board of education or an individual attempting to qualify to run for local board of
education member and in accordance with the provisions of subsections (d) and (e) of
Code Section 20-2-244; provided, however, that prior to submitting any such request,
the local board of education shall, upon its own initiative, or at the request of such
individual attempting to qualify to run for local board of education member:
(i) Provide 30 days' notice of the individual's intent to run for office; and
(ii) Conduct a public hearing for the purpose of providing an opportunity for full
discussion and public input on the issue of potential nepotism problems and other
concerns with regard to such waiver. The public hearing shall be advertised at least
seven days prior to the date of such hearing in a local newspaper of general
circulation which shall be the same newspaper in which other legal announcements
of the local board of education are advertised. The public hearing may be conducted
in conjunction with a regular or called meeting of the local board or may be
conducted independently, at the local board's discretion.
The cost of such notice and public hearing shall be borne by the local board. The State
Board of Education shall approve or deny a waiver request no later than 45 days after
receipt of such waiver request, taking into consideration whether the benefit to the
public would justify approval of the waiver. An approved waiver must be received by
the local election superintendent prior to an individual's filing of a declaration or notice
of candidacy in accordance with Article 4 of Chapter 2 of Title 21."
SECTION 2.
Said title is further amended in Code Section 20-2B-5, relating to powers of the education
savings authority, by revising subsection (b) and by adding a new subsection to read as
follows:
"(b) <del>Pursuant</del> <ins>Except as provided in subsection (d) of this Code section, pursuant</ins> to Code
Section 50-18-70, the education savings authority shall not disclose and shall keep
confidential, in each case unless identifying information has been redacted:
(1) Records that include information identifying a student or former student by name,
address except for ZIP Code, telephone number, or emergency contact; and
(2) Records that reveal an individual's social security number, mother's birth name, credit
card information, debit card information, bank account information, account number,
utility account number, password used to access his or her account, financial data or
information, insurance or medical information in all records, unlisted telephone number
if so designated in a public record, personal email address or cellular telephone number,
or month and day of birth."
<ins>"(d) As necessary to enforce the provisions of this chapter, the education savings authority
or its duly authorized agents may submit to the state revenue commissioner the names of
applicants for promise scholarship accounts or account funds or other benefits or payments
provided under this chapter, as well as the relevant income threshold specified therein. If
the education savings authority elects to contract with the state revenue commissioner for
such purposes, the state revenue commissioner and his or her agents or employees shall
notify the education savings authority whether each submitted applicant's income exceeds
the relevant income threshold provided. The education savings authority shall pay the state
revenue commissioner for all costs incurred by the Department of Revenue pursuant to this
subsection. No information shall be provided by the Department of Revenue to the
education savings authority without an executed cooperative agreement between the two
entities. Any tax information secured from the federal government by the Department of
Revenue pursuant to express provisions of Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code may
not be disclosed by the Department of Revenue pursuant to this subsection. Any person
receiving any tax information under the authority of this subsection is subject to the
provisions of Code Section 48-7-60 and to all penalties provided under Code Section
48-7-61 for unlawful divulging of confidential tax information."
</ins> SECTION 3.
Said title is further amended in Chapter 4, relating to vocational, technical, and adult
education, by revising Article 6, relating to the Dual Achievement Program, as follows:
By redesignating Section 2 as Section 4.