HB1287: HB1287 Transportation, Department of; selection of commissioner; revise method

Georgia law currently lets the State Transportation Board select the commissioner of the Department of Transportation, who serves as the department's chief executive officer. This bill rewrites O.C.G.A. § 32-2-40 to add a new step: the Governor must first nominate a candidate, and then a majority of the full board must vote to select that person. The bill keeps most of the existing structure around the commissioner's job. The board still sets the commissioner's term, choosing either service at the pleasure of the board and Governor, or a fixed term of up to four years that cannot run past the end of the current Governor's term. It keeps the existing rules on removal for just cause, filling vacancies with an acting commissioner, a $100,000 bond, and restrictions on the commissioner running for or holding other elective office while serving and for 12 months afterward. Conflicting laws are repealed.

• Adds a requirement that the Governor must nominate a candidate for commissioner of transportation before the State Transportation Board can vote on the position.
• Keeps the requirement that a majority of the board's total membership must vote to select the nominated commissioner.
• Preserves the board's authority to set the commissioner's term as either serving at the pleasure of the board and Governor, or a fixed term of up to four years.
• Retains the existing $100,000 bond requirement, removal-for-cause process, and vacancy procedure naming the deputy commissioner as acting commissioner.
• Keeps the existing restriction barring the commissioner from running for or holding other elective office during service and for 12 months afterward, with an exception for appointive offices.

The bill directly affects the Governor and the State Transportation Board, who share the process of choosing the Department of Transportation's commissioner, and the commissioner position itself, whose selection process, term limits, and post-service election restrictions are set by this law.

By inserting a gubernatorial nomination step into the selection process, the bill would give the Governor formal influence over who becomes the state's top transportation official, a role currently chosen through the board's own vote, changing the balance of control over a major state agency.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 32-2-40(b) to require the Governor to nominate the commissioner, with selection then made by a majority vote of the full State Transportation Board.
• Section 1 keeps the board's choice between a commissioner serving at the pleasure of the board and Governor, or a fixed term of up to four years not extending past the Governor's current term.
• Section 1 retains subsection (c)'s removal-for-just-cause process and the vacancy provision naming the deputy commissioner as acting commissioner until a replacement is selected.
• Section 1 retains subsection (d)'s $100,000 bond requirement paid from department funds and approved by the Governor.
• Section 1 retains subsection (e)'s restriction preventing the commissioner from running for or holding other state or federal elective office during service and for 12 months after leaving the post.
• Section 2 repeals all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the Act.

1. 2026-02-17House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-02-12House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-11House Hopper (House)

• Lauren McDonald (R, HD-026)Primary sponsor

• Department of Transportation
• state government appointments
• transportation commissioner
• Georgia Governor's powers