HB 56: Education; grants to spouses of law enforcement officers, firefighters, and prison guards who are killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty; provide

Georgia already runs a Public Safety Memorial Grant that pays for college for the children of law enforcement officers, firefighters and prison guards killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. This bill adds spouses to that group, expands the list of covered jobs to include emergency medical technicians and Department of Transportation highway emergency response operators, and raises the maximum grant from $2,000 per year (capped at $8,000 total) to $18,000 per year, capped at $72,000 total. The bill also creates a brand-new grant program for spouses and children of public school teachers and public school employees who are killed or permanently disabled by an act of violence while on duty, with the same $18,000 per year and $72,000 total caps. It updates the voluntary tax-return and driver's license donation programs that help fund these grants, moving the starting date from 2017 to 2026 and extending them to cover spouses and the new school violence victims. The Georgia Student Finance Authority would administer eligibility, applications and renewals.

• Adds spouses, not just children, of law enforcement officers, firefighters, prison guards, EMTs, and highway emergency response operators as eligible for the Public Safety Memorial Grant.
• Raises the maximum annual grant from $2,000 to $18,000 and the lifetime cap from $8,000 to $72,000 for the existing program.
• Expands the list of covered public safety jobs to include emergency medical technicians and Department of Transportation highway emergency response operators.
• Creates a new tuition grant (up to $18,000 per year, $72,000 lifetime) for spouses and children of public school teachers or employees killed or permanently disabled by an act of violence in the line of duty.
• Updates the voluntary charitable contribution options on state income tax returns and driver's license forms to fund these grants, moving the start date to January 1, 2026 and covering the newly added groups.
• Directs the Georgia Student Finance Authority to set rules, application procedures, and renewal requirements for the new school violence victims grant.

Surviving spouses and children of law enforcement officers, firefighters, prison guards, EMTs, and Department of Transportation highway emergency response operators killed or permanently disabled on the job, as well as families of public school teachers and employees killed or disabled by violence at work. The Georgia Student Finance Authority, Department of Revenue, and Department of Driver Services also have new administrative duties.

Families who previously could not get help because a spouse (rather than a child) was affected, or because the deceased or disabled worker held a newly covered job, could now qualify for state-funded college tuition assistance. The much higher grant caps mean eligible families could receive far more money toward college costs than before.

• Section 1-1 updates the tax return and driver's license donation programs (O.C.G.A. § 20-3-316.2), moving the start date to January 1, 2026 and adding spouses and public school violence victims as beneficiaries.
• Section 2-1 revises the legislative findings (O.C.G.A. § 20-3-450) to explicitly include spouses among those eligible for grant assistance.
• Section 2-2 rewrites definitions (O.C.G.A. § 20-3-451), adding 'emergency medical technician,' 'highway emergency response operator,' and detailed definitions of 'in the line of duty' for each covered job.
• Section 2-3 raises the per-year grant cap from $2,000 to $18,000 and the total lifetime cap from $8,000 to $72,000 (O.C.G.A. § 20-3-452).
• Section 2-4 updates eligibility rules (O.C.G.A. § 20-3-453) to include spouses and the newly added job categories, and sets July 1, 2025 as the date after which prior incidents still qualify.
• Section 3-1 creates new Code Section 20-3-466, a separate grant program for spouses and children of public school teachers or employees killed or disabled by an act of violence in the line of duty, with the same $18,000/$72,000 caps and its own application and renewal process.

1. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senado)
2. 2025-03-27Senate Read Second Time (Senado)
3. 2025-03-27Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senado)
4. 2025-03-10Senate Read and Referred (Senado)
5. 2025-03-06House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Cámara de Representantes)
6. 2025-03-06House Third Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
7. 2025-02-27House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Cámara de Representantes)
8. 2025-02-20House Withdrawn, Recommitted (Cámara de Representantes)

• Jesse Petrea (R, HD-166)Patrocinador principal
• Devan Seabaugh (R, HD-034)
• Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
• Steven Sainz (R, HD-180)
• Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-012)
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)

1. AprobadaVotación: Cámara de Representantes6 de marzo de 2025

   172 a favor, 0 en contra (3 sin votar, 5 ausentes)

   Passage: House Vote #218

• college tuition grants
• public safety survivor benefits
• education funding
• first responder benefits
• school violence victims