HR 1947: House Study Committee on Education Finance; create

Georgia funds its public schools mainly through the Quality Basic Education (QBE) formula, set up in 1985, which calculates state money for local school systems based on student counts and program types. Local systems must also spend a required local share of property tax revenue, and the state supplements poorer districts with equalization grants. This resolution creates the House Study Committee on Education Finance to review that whole funding system, including the equalization grants, the local five-mill share requirement, and other funding mechanisms, to see whether the current approach is still fair and effective. The five-member committee would include several House committee chairs and two Speaker appointees, who would study the issue and recommend legislation if needed. It could meet as often as needed, members get standard legislative allowances for up to five days of meetings unless more are approved, and the committee must file any report before it is abolished on December 31, 2026.

• Creates the House Study Committee on Education Finance to review Georgia's public school funding system.
• Directs the committee to examine equalization grants, the local five-mill share requirement, and other education financing mechanisms for fairness and effectiveness.
• Sets the committee's membership at five House members, including three specific committee chairs and two Speaker-appointed members.
• Authorizes standard legislative meeting allowances (O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8) for up to five days unless additional days are approved.
• Requires any approved findings or recommendations to be filed as a report with the Clerk of the House before the committee ends.
• Abolishes the committee automatically on December 31, 2026.

The resolution directly affects the House members appointed to the committee, including the chairs of the House Appropriations Committee, House Education Committee, and House Appropriations Subcommittee for Education. Indirectly, it affects local school systems and school districts, especially those with high poverty levels, whose funding could eventually be shaped by the committee's recommendations.

If the committee finds the current QBE formula outdated or inequitable, it could recommend legislation that changes how much state money local school systems receive, especially districts with high poverty. No funding changes take effect from this resolution itself; it only authorizes a study.

• Paragraph (1) creates the House Study Committee on Education Finance.
• Paragraph (2) sets membership at five House members, naming three chairs by title and giving the Speaker two appointments, one of whom becomes chairperson.
• Paragraph (3) directs the committee to study education financing issues and recommend action or legislation as needed.
• Paragraph (5) limits paid legislative allowances to five meeting days unless additional days are authorized, funded from House appropriations.
• Paragraph (6) requires any adopted report with legislative recommendations to be filed with the Clerk of the House before the committee is abolished.
• Paragraph (7) sets the committee's abolishment date as December 31, 2026.

1. 2026-03-31House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
2. 2026-03-31House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-27House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-03-25House Hopper (House)

• Shaw Blackmon (R, HD-146)Primary sponsor
• Chris Erwin (R, HD-032)
• Matt Dubnik (R, HD-029)
• Jan Jones (R, HD-047)
• Robert Dawson (D, HD-065)
• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)

• education funding
• school finance
• QBE formula
• legislative study committee
• school poverty funding