Georgia CommonsSenate · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
SR 553: Senate Study Committee on Funding for Charter School Capital Improvements; create
Last action March 31, 2026 · Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute
A Senate resolution creates a five-member Senate Study Committee on Funding for Charter School Capital Improvements to examine how Georgia funds school building and facility upgrades for locally approved charter schools.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the resolution and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Georgia's traditional public schools can tap several funding sources for buildings and facility upgrades, including state and local capital outlay funds, bond financing, and the Educational Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (E-SPLOST). Locally approved charter schools generally lack comparable access and often rely on operating budgets, donations, or private financing instead. This resolution sets up a temporary Senate committee of five senators, three picked by the Senate President and two by the Minority Leader, with a chairperson named by the President. The committee can hold up to four meetings, gather testimony from charter school leaders and financial experts, and study funding disparities. It can recommend legislation in a report filed with the Secretary of the Senate. Members get standard legislative allowances funded through the Senate's budget. The committee is abolished automatically on December 1, 2026.
What the bill does
- Creates the Senate Study Committee on Funding for Charter School Capital Improvements, made up of five state senators.
- Directs the committee to review current capital funding mechanisms and compare access between charter schools and traditional public schools.
- Authorizes the committee to gather testimony from charter school leaders, education stakeholders, and financial experts.
- Limits the chairperson to calling no more than four committee meetings.
- Allows the committee to recommend legislation or other action in a report filed with the Secretary of the Senate before the committee ends.
- Sets the committee to automatically dissolve on December 1, 2026.
Who it affects
Georgia's locally approved charter schools and their leaders, traditional public school districts that use funding tools like E-SPLOST and bond financing, state senators appointed to the committee, and education and financial stakeholders who may be asked to testify.
Why it matters
The study could lead to legislation changing how charter schools pay for buildings and repairs, which currently rely more heavily on operating budgets and private funds than traditional public schools do. Any concrete funding change would require separate future legislation, since this resolution only creates a study process.
Key provisions
- Paragraph (2) sets committee membership at five senators, three appointed by the Senate President and two by the Minority Leader, with the President naming the chairperson.
- Paragraph (3) lists study duties, including comparing charter and traditional public school capital funding and examining E-SPLOST, bond financing, and capital outlay grants.
- Paragraph (4) caps the chairperson at calling no more than four meetings.
- Paragraph (5) provides member allowances under O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8, capped at five days unless additional days are authorized, funded from Senate appropriations.
- Paragraph (6) requires any adopted findings or legislative recommendations to be filed as a report with the Secretary of the Senate, approved by majority vote of a quorum.
- Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026.
From the bill
“traditional public schools have access to various funding sources, including state and local capital outlay funds, bond financing, and the Educational Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (E-SPLOST), while locally approved charter schools face challenges in securing comparable funding for capital improvements”
“The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2026.”
Discussed in meetings (3)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
Senate Education and Youth Committee, March 26, 2026
From 0:28:36 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said SR 553 would create a study committee on funding charter-school building improvements, including unexpected needs such as heating and cooling repairs. The sponsor explained that SB 498 and SB 475 could address some of the same needs if enacted. Asked whether the study committee would still be necessary, the sponsor agreed to monitor those proposals and avoid duplication, while noting that members could still benefit from examining how charter schools may use their funding. Members approved an amendment changing the year from 2025 to 2026. They then held a show-of-hands vote on the amended resolution, but the final result was not expressly announced.
Senate Rules Committee, March 30, 2026
From 0:27:53 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The chair included SR 553 in a group of 12 study committee resolutions. The chair said Capitol study committee meetings during the interim would need to use the legislative office building because other meeting rooms would be under renovation. The committee unanimously moved the group to the consent calendar.
Status timeline
- Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Third Read (Senate)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Sonya Halpern (D, SD-39)
- Harold Jones II (D, SD-22)
- Clint Dixon (R, SD-45)
- RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-38)
- Elena Parent (D, SD-44)
Votes
- Senate voteMarch 31, 2026
48 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 3 excused)
Topics
- charter schools
- school funding
- education policy
- legislative study committees
- school construction