HB1428: HB1428 Georgia Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Board; retain certain incidental funds generated by certain fees; authorize

Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 43-15-6.1), the Georgia Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Board deposits all fees it collects, including exam and license fees, into the state treasury, and its operating expenses must be paid only out of that deposited income. This bill rewrites that Code section to add a new category of incidental fees, such as charges for license verifications, certificates, plaques, and identification cards, and to let the board keep those specific revenues rather than deposit them into the state treasury. The board would also be allowed to keep fees it collects to cover its own costs of collecting fees owed under the chapter. This retention would happen under an existing state law, O.C.G.A. § 45-12-92.1, which governs how state boards can hold onto certain incidental income. The bill repeals conflicting laws and does not state a separate effective date.

• Rewrites O.C.G.A. § 43-15-6.1 to let the board retain incidental revenue from license verifications, certificates, plaques, and identification cards instead of depositing it in the state treasury.
• Allows the board to keep fees collected specifically to cover the cost of collecting other required fees under the chapter.
• Ties this retention authority to O.C.G.A. § 45-12-92.1, an existing state law on agencies keeping incidental funds.
• Keeps the existing rule that main fees like exam, license, and renewal fees still go into the state treasury and must cover the board's core expenses.

The Georgia Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Board, which regulates licensed engineers and land surveyors in the state, and by extension the engineers and land surveyors who pay license, verification, certificate, plaque, and ID card fees to the board.

If passed, the board would have more direct control over smaller fee revenues, potentially helping it cover administrative costs like issuing certificates or ID cards without waiting on state treasury appropriations, which could affect how quickly it processes such requests.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 43-15-6.1(a)-(b), keeping the existing rule that main fees (exam, license, renewal) are deposited into the state treasury and fund board operations.
• Section 1 adds to subsection (c) that the board may retain incidental revenues from license verifications, certificates, plaques, and identification cards under O.C.G.A. § 45-12-92.1.
• Section 1 also lets the board retain collection fees to help defray the cost of collecting fees required under the chapter.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard closing provision.

1. 2026-03-03House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
2. 2026-02-26House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-25House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-02-24House Hopper (House)

• Lauren McDonald (R, HD-026)Primary sponsor
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-099)
• Brad Thomas (R, HD-021)
• Gabe Okoye (D, HD-102)
• Holt Persinger (R, HD-119)
• Victor Anderson (R, HD-010)

• professional licensing
• engineering regulation
• land surveying
• state agency funding