---
title: HB 727. Administrative Services, Department of; post-employment restriction for state employees involved in state purchasing; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb727
cite_as: HB 727, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb727
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb727.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb727/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71167
date: 2025-03-10
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-12
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/hb727.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 727
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-03-04
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Bruce Williamson
- Chuck Efstration
- Rob Leverett
- Houston Gaines
- Matt Reeves
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB727/2025
upstream_id: 1991512
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- government ethics
- state purchasing
- conflict of interest
- public employees
- procurement rules
---
# HB 727. Administrative Services, Department of; post-employment restriction for state employees involved in state purchasing; provide
## Text
House Bill 727
By: Representatives Williamson of the 112th, Efstration of the 104th, Leverett of the 123rd,
Gaines of the 120th, and Reeves of the 99th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Part 1 of Article 3 of Chapter 5 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to general authority, duties, and procedures of the Department of
Administrative Services in state purchasing, so as to provide a post-employment restriction
for state employees involved in state purchasing; 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.
Part 1 of Article 3 of Chapter 5 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to general authority, duties, and procedures of the Department of Administrative
Services in state purchasing, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"50-5-86.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Employment' includes consulting or other independent contractor services.
(2) 'Participates' means involvement in decision-making processes related to developing,
negotiating, evaluating, awarding, or managing contracts for goods or services on behalf
of a state agency.
(3) 'State agency' means any department, agency, board, commission, or authority of the
state, or any political subdivision thereof.
(b) Any employee of a state agency who participates in the solicitation, negotiation, or
administration of contracts for goods or services for such state agency shall be prohibited
from accepting employment with any vendor or contractor involving such contracts for a
period of 12 months following the termination of his or her employment with the state
agency."
SECTION 2.
(a) This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming
law without such approval.
(b) This Act shall apply to any employment starting on or after the effective date of this Act,
and to any renewals, modifications, or extensions of such employment starting on or after
such date.
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.
House Bill 727 would bar Georgia state employees who handle purchasing contracts from taking a job with a vendor or contractor they dealt with for 12 months after leaving state service.
### Plain-language summary
Currently, Georgia law does not stop state employees who work on government purchasing contracts from immediately going to work for the companies they awarded or managed those contracts for. HB 727 would add a new section to the state purchasing law (O.C.G.A. § 50-5-86) creating a 12 month post employment restriction.
Any state agency employee who takes part in soliciting, negotiating, or administering a contract for goods or services would be barred from accepting a job with the vendor or contractor tied to that contract for a full year after leaving state employment. The bill defines 'employment' broadly to include consulting or independent contractor work, and defines 'state agency' to cover any state department, agency, board, commission, authority, or political subdivision. The restriction would apply to jobs starting on or after the bill's effective date, which would be as soon as the Governor signs it or it otherwise becomes law, and would also cover renewals, modifications, or extensions of such employment.
### What it does
- Creates a new 12 month waiting period before a state employee involved in purchasing contracts can work for a vendor or contractor tied to those contracts.
- Defines 'participates' broadly to include decision-making in developing, negotiating, evaluating, awarding, or managing state contracts.
- Defines 'employment' to include consulting or independent contractor work, closing off that route around the restriction.
- Applies the restriction to any state department, agency, board, commission, authority, or political subdivision, not just a single agency.
- Sets the law to take effect as soon as the Governor signs it, applying to new jobs, renewals, or extensions starting on or after that date.
### Who it affects
State employees who work on soliciting, negotiating, evaluating, or managing state purchasing contracts, along with the private vendors and contractors who do business with Georgia state agencies and might otherwise hire those employees right after they leave state service.
### Why it matters
Georgians would gain a safeguard meant to reduce the chance that a state purchasing employee steers a contract toward a company in exchange for a future job offer. Vendors would need to wait a year before hiring former state staff who worked on their contracts, changing hiring plans for both sides.
### Key provisions
- Adds a new Code section, O.C.G.A. § 50-5-86, to the part of state law governing the Department of Administrative Services' purchasing authority.
- Subsection (a) defines 'employment', 'participates', and 'state agency' for purposes of the restriction.
- Subsection (b) is the operative rule: it bars a state employee who participated in a contract's solicitation, negotiation, or administration from taking a job with the related vendor or contractor for 12 months after leaving state employment.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as the date of the Governor's approval (or the date the bill becomes law without approval) and applies it to employment starting on or after that date, including renewals and extensions.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-03-04)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-03-10)
- Sponsors: Bruce Williamson, Chuck Efstration, Rob Leverett, Houston Gaines, Matt Reeves
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71167
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb727.md?full=1