--- title: HR 1831. House Study Committee on Local Government Financial Audits; create collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hr1831 cite_as: HR 1831, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr1831 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr1831.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr1831/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74326 date: 2026-03-27 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. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr1830.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr1832.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 185 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr1831.md?full=1 bill_number: HR 1831 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: resolution status_date: 2026-03-20 last_action: House Committee Favorably Reported sponsors: - Lauren McDonald - Victor Anderson - Charles Cannon - Bill Yearta - Johnny Chastain text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HR1831/2025 upstream_id: 2136827 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - local government finance - government audits - state oversight - study committee --- # HR 1831. House Study Committee on Local Government Financial Audits; create ## Text House Resolution 1831 By: Representatives McDonald III of the 26th, Anderson of the 10th, Cannon of the 172nd, Yearta of the 152nd, and Chastain of the 7th A RESOLUTION Creating the House Study Committee on Local Government Financial Audits; and for other purposes. WHEREAS, local governments are required to conduct an audit of the financial affairs and transactions of all funds and activities of the local government for each fiscal year either annually or biennially and to submit reports of such audits to the state auditor; and WHEREAS, a significant number of local governments are out of compliance with the audit requirement, failing to submit the required reports or submitting them late; and WHEREAS, many local governments may be experiencing financial strain which is not apparent because they are not completing audits and submitting reports as required; and WHEREAS, study is needed to determine what actions can be taken at a state level to assist local governments with struggles they may be facing relating to compliance with the audit and reporting requirements or their financial conditions. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: (1) Creation of House study committee. There is created the House Study Committee on Local Government Financial Audits. (2) Members and officers. The committee shall be composed of seven members of the House of Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Speaker shall designate a member of the committee as chairperson of the committee. (3) Powers and duties. 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. (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 and funding. 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. 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. (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. ## 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 House resolution would create a study committee to examine why many Georgia local governments are failing to complete required financial audits and to recommend possible state action. ### Plain-language summary Georgia law requires local governments to audit their finances every year or every two years and report the results to the state auditor. This resolution notes that many local governments are not meeting that requirement, either missing deadlines or not filing at all, which can hide financial trouble from state oversight. The resolution creates the House Study Committee on Local Government Financial Audits, made up of seven House members appointed by the Speaker, who also names the chairperson. The committee would study why local governments struggle with audit compliance and their underlying financial conditions, then recommend legislation or other action. It can hold meetings as needed, members get standard legislative allowances for up to five days, and funding comes from the House budget. Any final report or recommendations must be filed with the Clerk of the House before the committee's abolishment date. ### What it does - Creates the House Study Committee on Local Government Financial Audits made up of seven House members appointed by the Speaker. - Directs the committee to study why local governments fail to complete required financial audits and submit reports on time. - Authorizes the committee to recommend legislation or other state action to help local governments with audit compliance or financial strain. - Sets standard legislative meeting allowances (O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8) for members, capped at five days unless more are authorized. - Requires any approved findings or recommendations to be filed as a report with the Clerk of the House before the committee is abolished. ### Who it affects The seven House members appointed to the committee, local governments across Georgia that must complete financial audits, and the state auditor's office that receives and reviews those audit reports. ### Why it matters If local governments are not completing required audits, financial problems in cities and counties could go unnoticed by the state. This committee's work could lead to new legislation aimed at improving compliance or catching financial distress earlier, though the resolution itself makes no policy changes yet. ### Key provisions - Paragraph (1) formally creates the House Study Committee on Local Government Financial Audits. - Paragraph (2) sets committee membership at seven House members appointed by the Speaker, who also designates the chairperson. - Paragraph (3) directs the committee to study local government audit compliance problems and recommend action or legislation. - Paragraph (5) ties member pay to existing legislative allowance law (O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8) and funds the committee through the House of Representatives' budget. - Paragraph (6) requires any adopted findings or legislative recommendations to be filed as a signed report with the Clerk of the House before the committee's abolishment date. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2026-03-20) - Last action: House Committee Favorably Reported (2026-03-27) - Sponsors: Lauren McDonald, Victor Anderson, Charles Cannon, Bill Yearta, Johnny Chastain - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74326 > The history, votes, and amendments (185 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr1831.md?full=1