HB1379: HB1379 Foreign Funding Transparency and Accountability Act; enact

26 LC 61 0442S/AP House Bill 1379 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Gaines of the 120th, Panitch of the 51st, Carson of the 46th, Cox of the 28th, and Fleming of the 114th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, re lating to education, so as1 to require annual reports from institutions of the University System of Georgia, units of the2 Technical College System of Georgia, and local school systems a nd other public schools3 regarding funding received from certain foreign sources; to provide requirements for such4 reports; to provide for such reports to be made publicly available; to provide for procedures5 and penalties relating to noncompliance; to provide legislative findings; to provide for6 definitions; to provide for related matters; to provide for a short title; to provide for effective7 dates; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.8 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:9 SECTION 1.10 This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Foreign Fundin g Transparency and11 Accountability Act."12 H. B. 1379 - 1 - 26 LC 61 0442S/AP SECTION 2.13 Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to education, is amended in14 Article 1 of Chapter 1, relating to general provisions relative to education, by adding a new15 Code section to read as follows:16 "20-1-13.17 (a) The General Assembly finds that there is a compelling stat e interest in protecting18 academic independence, research security, and intellectual property from foreign influence19 and that a rigorous reporting requirement of funding from certa in foreign sources is20 necessary to protect such interest.21 (b) As used in this Code section, the term:22 (1) 'Foreign country of concern' means:23 (A) A country whose government is designated as a foreign adversary by the United24 States Secretary of Commerce pursuant to 15 C.F.R. Section 791.4, as such regulation25 existed on January 1, 2026;26 (B) A country that has been designated as a country of particu lar concern by the27 President of the United States or the United States Secretary o f State pursuant to the28 federal International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as such designations existed on29 January 1, 2026;30 (C) A country designated as a special watch list country by the President of the United31 States or the United States Secretary of State pursuant to the federal Frank R. Wolf32 International Religious Freedom Act of 2016, as such designations existed on January33 1, 2026; and34 (D) A country whose form of government is any form of monarchy , which has a35 sovereign wealth fund with a board of directors that includes the monarch or a member36 of his or her family, and which shares a border with a country specified in subparagraph37 (A), (B), or (C) of this paragraph.38 (2) 'Foreign entity of concern' means:39 H. B. 1379 - 2 - 26 LC 61 0442S/AP (A) An organization, institution of higher education, association, corporation, or other40 entity organized under the laws of, or having its principal place of business in, a foreign41 country of concern or a subsidiary of any such entity;42 (B) An organization designated by the United States Secretary of State as a foreign43 terrorist organization pursuant to 8 U.S.C. Section 1189 on or before January 1, 2026;44 (C) An organization designated as an entity of particular concern by the United States45 Secretary of State pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 on or46 before January 1, 2026; and47 (D) An organization, corporation, association, foundation, or other entity which is a48 member or subsidiary of any organization, corporation, associa tion, foundation, or49 other entity that has its principal place of business in a foreign country of concern or is50 controlled directly or indirectly by an official of a foreign country of concern.51 (3) 'Foreign individual of concern' means any official of a foreign country of concern or52 any individual who is domiciled in a foreign country of concern and who is not a citizen53 or lawful permanent resident o f the United States, or an indivi dual who has been54 convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. Section 2339A or 18 U.S.C. Section 2339B.55 (4) 'Foreign source of concern' means a foreign country of concern, a foreign entity of56 concern, or a foreign individual of concern.57 (5) 'Funding' means any gift, grant, donation, payment in exchange for services, capital58 investment, salary, wage, compensation, fee, or other monetary exchange.59 (6) 'Governing authority' means the State Board of Education for a local school system60 or other public school, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia for an61 institution of the University System of Georgia, or the State B oard of the Technical62 College System of Georgia for a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia.63 (7) 'Public educational institution' means an institution of t he University System of64 Georgia, a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, and a local school system65 or other public school.66 H. B. 1379 - 3 - 26 LC 61 0442S/AP (8) 'Reportable funding' means funding received during a fisca l year from a single67 foreign source of concern or an individual or entity directly or indirectly controlled by,68 acting on behalf of, or working in conjunction with such foreig n source of concern69 totaling $10,000.00 or more.70 (9) 'Sovereign wealth fund' shall have the same meaning as set forth in Code Section71 7-10-1.72 (c) Beginning July 31, 2027, and annually thereafter, except as provided in subsection (d)73 of this Code section, each public educational institution shall provide to the Attorney74 General and the Department of Audits and Accounts a report detailing reportable funding75 received during the preceding fiscal year by such public educat ional institution or an76 organization controlled directly or indirectly by or acting on behalf of such institution. 77 Such report shall include:78 (1) The amount of funding received;79 (2) The type of funding, whether a gift, grant, donation, paym ent in exchange for80 services, capital investment, salary, wage, compensation, fee, or other monetary81 exchange;82 (3) A detailed description of the source providing the funding, including the name and83 address of such source and the owner of such source, if applicable;84 (4) A copy of any contract, agreement, or memorandum of understanding associated with85 the funding;86 (5) Details regarding the purpose of the funding and indicating whether the funding was87 a single payment or part of multiple payments;88 (6) Details regarding any influence or control such source has over the curriculum,89 research, academic affairs, or personnel decisions of such institution; and90 (7) Steps taken to protect academic freedom, research integrity, and cybersecurity.91 (d) Beginning July 31, 2027, and annually thereafter, each public educational institution92 that has not received reportable funding during the preceding f iscal year shall provide a93 H. B. 1379 - 4 - 26 LC 61 0442S/AP report to the Attorney General and the Department of Audits and Accounts stating that such94 institution has not received reportable funding during the preceding fiscal year.95 (e) The reports required by this Code section shall be made available on the website of the96 Department of Audits and Accounts; provided, however, that pers onally identifiable97 information, security information, and other information protected from disclosure by state98 or federal law shall be redacted before such reports are made available. Such reports shall99 also be provided to the chairpersons of the House Committee on Education, the House100 Committee on Higher Education, the Senate Education and Youth C ommittee, and the101 Senate Higher Education Committee.102 (f) This Code section shall not require reporting of funding provided by an individual or103 a family as payment for tuition or related fees for a student o r students affiliated with or104 attending a program, class, or course of study at an institution of the University System of105 Georgia or a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia.106 (g) If a public educational institution fails to provide a report required by this Code section107 or fails to disclose reportable funding in a report provided pursuant to this Code section,108 the Attorney General shall notify the public educational instit ution of such failure and109 provide the public educational institution with an opportunity to correct the failure. If a110 public educational institution fails to submit a report or amend a report within 30 days of111 receipt of such notice, the Attorney General shall notify the applicable governing authority112 and such governing authority shall be authorized to withhold a portion of the state funding113 allotted for the applicable public educational institution in an amount of $5,000.00 or three114 times the amount of reportable funding the public educational institution failed to disclose,115 whichever is greater."116 H. B. 1379 - 5 - 26 LC 61 0442S/AP SECTION 3.117 Said title is further amended in Part 2 of Article 2 of Chapter 3, relating to university system,118 by repealing and reserving Code Section 20-3-84, relating to reporting on funding received119 by university system from any foreign country, entity, or individual of concern.120 SECTION 4.121 (a) This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2026, except as otherwise provided in122 subsection (b) of this section.123 (b) Section 3 of this Act shall become effective on January 1, 2027.124 SECTION 5.125 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.126 H. B. 1379 - 6 -