---
title: HR 1656. House Study Committee on School Nutrition, Student Food Security, Georgia Agriculture, and Student Success; create
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hr1656
cite_as: HR 1656, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr1656
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr1656.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr1656/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74018
date: 2026-03-16
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/hr1656.md?full=1
bill_number: HR 1656
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: resolution
status_date: 2026-03-10
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
  - Imani Barnes
  - Chris Erwin
  - Bethany Ballard
  - Carolyn Hugley
  - Samuel Park
  - Doreen Carter
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HR1656/2025
upstream_id: 2132142
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - school meals
  - food insecurity
  - Georgia agriculture
  - education policy
  - farm-to-school
---

# HR 1656. House Study Committee on School Nutrition, Student Food Security, Georgia Agriculture, and Student Success; create

## Text

House Resolution 1656
By: Representatives Barnes of the 86th, Erwin of the 32nd, Ballard of the 147th, Hugley of the
141st, Park of the 107th, and others
A RESOLUTION
Creating the House Study Committee on School Nutrition, Student Food Security, Georgia
Agriculture, and Student Success; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS, food insecurity among children remains a significant challenge in Georgia,
affecting students' ability to learn, concentrate, and succeed academically; and
WHEREAS, research consistently shows that access to nutritious meals improves student
literacy, attendance, cognitive development, and long-term educational outcomes; and
WHEREAS, many families in Georgia fall into a gap where they earn too much to qualify
for free or reduced price meals but still struggle to afford school meals for their children; and
WHEREAS, eliminating barriers to school meals may help reduce stigma, increase
participation, and ensure that every child begins the school day ready to learn; and
WHEREAS, several states have implemented universal school meal programs and have
reported positive outcomes related to student health, academic performance, and school
climate; and
WHEREAS, Georgia farmers and agricultural producers could benefit from stronger
procurement partnerships with schools, strengthening the farm-to-school pipeline and
supporting the state's agricultural economy; and
WHEREAS, expanding access to school meals may produce broader economic benefits by
supporting Georgia agriculture, reducing administrative costs for school districts, and
strengthening the long-term workforce pipeline by improving child health and education
outcomes; and
WHEREAS, additional study is necessary to fully understand the extent of student food
insecurity in Georgia and the fiscal implications of providing universal access to school
meals.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
(1) Creation of House study committee. There is created the House Study Committee
on School Nutrition, Student Food Security, Georgia Agriculture, and Student Success.
(2) Members and officers.
(A) The committee shall be composed of seven members of the House of
Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(B) The Speaker shall also appoint seven additional nonlegislative members of the
committee as follows:
(i) A representative from the Georgia Department of Education School Nutrition
Division;
(ii) A member with expertise in public health;
(iii) A representative of Georgia's agriculture industry or a farm-to-school
organization in Georgia;
(iv) A school nutrition director;
(v) A representative of a nonprofit organization that does work or research relevant
to the work of the committee;
(vi) A member with expertise in education or literacy; and
(vii) A member with expertise in economics or fiscal policy.
(C) The Speaker shall also designate a legislative member of the committee as
chairperson of the committee.
(3) Powers and duties.
(A) The committee shall undertake a study of the conditions, needs, issues, and
problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any action or legislation
which the committee deems necessary or appropriate.
(B) The duties of the committee shall also include, but not be limited to:
(i) Examining the state's current postsecondary and transition offerings; and
(ii) Studying the most recent data on postsecondary offerings in prisons and
successful models around the country.
(4) Meetings. The chairperson shall call all meetings of the committee. The committee
may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem necessary or
convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and
accomplish the objectives and purposes of this resolution.
(5) Allowances, expenses, and funding.
(A) The legislative members of the committee shall receive the allowances provided
for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.
(B) Members of the committee who are state officials, other than legislative members,
or who are state employees shall receive no compensation for their services on the
committee, but they may be reimbursed for expenses incurred by them in the
performance of their duties as members of the committee in the same manner as they
are reimbursed for expenses in their capacities as state officials or employees.
(C) Members of the committee who are not legislators, state officials, or state
employees shall receive a daily expense allowance in an amount the same as that
specified in subsection (b) of Code Section 45-7-21 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, as well as the mileage or transportation allowance authorized for state
employees.
(D) The allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any member
of the committee for more than five days unless additional days are authorized. Funds
necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds
appropriated to the House of Representatives; except that funds for the reimbursement
of the expenses of state officials, other than legislative members, and for the
reimbursement of the expenses of state employees shall come from funds appropriated
to or otherwise available to their respective agencies.
(6) Report.
(A) In the event the committee adopts any specific findings or recommendations that
include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file a report of the
same prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolution, subject to
subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.
(B) In the event the committee adopts a report that does not include suggestions for
proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file the report, subject to subparagraph (C)
of this paragraph.
(C) No report shall be filed unless the same has been approved prior to the date of
abolishment specified in this resolution by majority vote of a quorum of the committee.
A report so approved shall be signed by the chairperson of the committee and filed with
the Clerk of the House of Representatives.
(D) In the absence of an approved report, the chairperson may file with the Clerk of the
House of Representatives a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the committee in lieu
thereof.
(7) Abolishment. The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2026.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary.

A Georgia House resolution would create a study committee to examine student food insecurity, school meal access, and farm-to-school partnerships between Georgia agriculture and public schools.

### Plain-language summary

Some Georgia families earn too much to qualify for free or reduced price school meals but still struggle to pay for them, and lawmakers say more study is needed on the scope of student food insecurity and the cost of expanding meal access. This resolution creates the House Study Committee on School Nutrition, Student Food Security, Georgia Agriculture, and Student Success to look into these issues.
The committee would have seven House members appointed by the Speaker, plus seven nonlegislative members with backgrounds in school nutrition, public health, agriculture, education, and economics. It would study food insecurity, universal school meal proposals, and school procurement partnerships with Georgia farmers, and could recommend legislation. Members would receive standard state travel and expense allowances, capped at five days unless extended. The committee must file any report before it is abolished on December 1, 2026.

### What it does

- Creates the House Study Committee on School Nutrition, Student Food Security, Georgia Agriculture, and Student Success.
- Directs the Speaker of the House to appoint seven legislative members and seven nonlegislative members with specific expertise, including school nutrition, agriculture, and economics.
- Charges the committee with studying student food insecurity, universal school meal programs, and farm-to-school procurement partnerships.
- Sets standard state reimbursement rates for committee members' expenses, capped at five days unless additional days are authorized.
- Requires any committee report or recommended legislation to be filed with the Clerk of the House before the committee is abolished.
- Abolishes the committee automatically on December 1, 2026.

### Who it affects

Georgia House members appointed to the committee, Department of Education school nutrition officials, public health experts, school nutrition directors, farm-to-school and agriculture representatives, and families and students affected by school meal policy and food insecurity.

### Why it matters

If enacted, the study could shape future legislation on school meal costs, food insecurity, and support for Georgia farmers who supply school cafeterias, though the resolution itself only creates a committee to study these issues rather than changing meal policy directly.

### Key provisions

- Paragraph 1 creates the House Study Committee on School Nutrition, Student Food Security, Georgia Agriculture, and Student Success.
- Paragraph 2 sets committee membership at seven House members plus seven nonlegislative members representing school nutrition, public health, agriculture, school nutrition directors, nonprofits, education, and economics.
- Paragraph 3 directs the committee to study food insecurity and related issues and recommend legislation, and also references studying postsecondary offerings in prisons.
- Paragraph 5 sets member expense allowances under O.C.G.A. §§ 28-1-8 and 45-7-21, capped at five days absent additional authorization.
- Paragraph 6 requires any approved report or recommended legislation to be filed with the Clerk of the House before abolishment.
- Paragraph 7 abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2026-03-10)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-03-16)
- Sponsors: Imani Barnes, Chris Erwin, Bethany Ballard, Carolyn Hugley, Samuel Park, Doreen Carter
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74018

> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr1656.md?full=1