House Higher Education Committee, April 1, 2026
Video: https://vimeo.com/1177406379 (a timestamp t plays at https://vimeo.com/1177406379#t=<seconds>s)
Page: https://georgiacommons.org/meetings/2026-04-01/house-higher-education

This is a machine transcript of the General Assembly's video, made by a speech-recognition model. It is not an official record and can mishear words, names, and numbers. Speakers are not identified. The video is the record: every timestamp links to the moment it plays.
[0:20:30] Okay, we'll go ahead and get started, 'cause I know folks are busy. We do, uh, we have seated a, a quorum today. And I wanna thank everybody for, for being here. I was gonna have a little fun and, and, uh, ask the, um, uh, attorney to pass out, uh, a constitutional, uh, re- resolution that would, uh, replace the Senate bill, and I bet y'all know what that might have been about. But, but, but then I was gonna say it was April Fool and I was just kidding. So, uh, we're, we're not here for that purpose, uh, today, but we are here for a, an imp- an important purpose.

[0:21:01] And I thank everybody for coming over. Um, you, you will see in your packet HB1300. Uh, as we all know, we are long past crossover day, and this bill can't cross over. But what, um, we've done with this bill, if we've included a number of propositions that were combined in the Senate, and they have that on the Senate, uh, table. Um, one of those is the Dream Scholarship. There are several other important items in that consolidated bill in the Senate that we have included in here.

[0:21:33] So what I am asking you all today is to, to let me present this from the chair and go through the parts of the bill. These are all things that we have seen before, um, except one, and it was seen by House Retirement. And, and I can explain, it's a one-word change, um, in, in that bill. So these are all things that have passed the House floor, or at minimum House committee, and, and have also passed Senate committee, uh, in, in a slight- maybe in a slightly differing form. But it would put us in a position, um, that we can, um, if we go forward, we will have taken committee action on language that we perhaps can, uh, use to make sure that we don't lose these important propositions on, on a busy Thursday afternoon.

[0:22:14] So with that, are there any questions before I get through presenting the bill? Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.

[0:22:20] Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's actually more of a procedural. So this bill right here is not, it wouldn't be, like, an agree, disagree situation. This is just, we're just doing a hearing so we say we had a hearing on it?

[0:22:32] Yeah. Well, yes, ma'am. Actually, what I would like is if, if the c- the committee c- could be comfortable with what, what I present to you today, I would like the committee to take action and, and move this forward to the Rules Committee with a Do Pass recommendation. At which time, it would be reported out and go up on the website. Because if we are in a position late Thursday, and we are in a, an emergent-type s- position that we don't wanna lose good propositions that this committee has passed, we could go through then and take this e- exact bill and, and perhaps put in a Senate bill or put, uh, put on an amendment to a Senate bill.

[0:23:03] But this committee would be able to show our colleagues in the House that we saw this exact language in committee. Um, ma- many times that's done a different way, and they, they, and we do trust our colleagues when they tell us that. But given we have the opportunity today to socialize this language, uh, give it the opportunity to, to be reported out to the clerk and a copy to be made available, the, the idea is for this to be that copy, and that, that exact language would move into a Senate bill or an amendment if we need to agree.

[0:23:31] Thank you.

[0:23:31] To try to, to try to be a- as open and, uh, fair, fair-minded as we could about it.

[0:23:37] Thank you for that clarification.

[0:23:39] With, with that, i- if I, if you will allow me to do this from the chair, I will, uh, I will present to you what you see in House Bill 1300. Um, part one is the Dreams Scholarship bill that we saw in, um, House Bill 1413. Um, that's gonna run a, a number of pages and is part one of the bill, um, from, from lines... Well, there's, of, of course, there's a preamble to the bill on, on page one that includes everything. But then, uh, part one, uh, runs until, uh, lines, uh, 155.

[0:24:13] And this is, uh, the bill as you saw in pass, uh, has passed, uh, on the House floor. Um, that is section one of the Dreams Act, uh, 1413. Um, part two of the bill is the original bill that we may borrow, uh, if we get into that emergent situation, was the bill we passed for fine arts, uh, Senate Bill 556. This is that exact language. That, that entire, that bill in its entirety, Senate Bill 556, is part two of the current proposition.

[0:24:49] That, that runs onto lines 1, uh, 87. Part three of the bill was House Bill 419. If, if members will recall, um, this was, um...

[0:25:04] Hawkins.

[0:25:05] Yes, Chairman Hawkins. I apologize. Uh, this was Chairman Ha- Hawkins' opioid, opioid agnostic bill that has passed, uh, this body. Uh, it actually passed, uh, last year, uh, it didn't get out of rules. It came back to us, and we passed it again this year. That is part three of the proposition. Um, number, number, uh, of lines in that because it, it deals with TCSG and USG. But that is the exact same language, um, as Forster, uh, pulled out from House Bill 419.

[0:25:36] Um, section four, I'm sorry, part four of the bill, starting on lines 321, was section two of House Bill 1413 that provided, uh, the framework for a graduate medical scholarship. That is the language, as you saw in section two of 1413. And I'm gonna run through all this, and then I'll come back and take any questions. Part five of the bill You have seen before in House Bill 962, that was the first section of 962 that moved out of this committee and passed the House floor.

[0:26:13] In our version, if you recall, we had, we were allowing the board to set that amount and it to be a dynamic amount. Um, the governor's office, um, feels, feels strongly that they would like to set that at a finite amount. They worry about the delegation of powers to a non-elected board. Um, I, I have not a problem with that. Uh, if, if you will recall, uh, my point was the governor chaired the, the board itself, so he, he or she, um, he in this case, he or she in the future would get the, the number that they were looking for.

[0:26:44] But, uh, ha- certainly happy to have $550,000. I did toy with the idea of making it 500, $550,529, uh, for the 529 plan, but we just left it 5, $550,000. So that is Part 5 of the bill, Section, uh, 5.1, uh, pulled from, um, House Bill 962.

[0:27:13] Let me go back. Part 6 of the bill is, uh, from the Retirement, uh, Committee. Uh, the, the change in this is requested by TCSG, uh, was, um, Vice Chairman Carter Barrett's original bill, uh, came out of, um, House Retirement, and it changed on line 442 in this bill, uh, to part-time or full-time students that are on work study are, are not part of, um, the ERS system.

[0:27:44] I think it's a bit of a belt and suspenders, uh, proposition, but that i- that is agreed to. ERS has signed off on that. It has passed House committee, uh, previously. Again, n- none, none of these students, um, are ... Well, they shouldn't have to put their money into it for retirement. They don't stay long enough to be vested in the ERS system. It, it's a, a bit silly to require them to contribute into it.

[0:28:08] What was the original bill number for that one?

[0:28:10] Uh, 1113. 1113. HB1113 passed out of House Retirement on February 12th.

[0:28:26] Okay.

[0:28:26] The Part 7 of the bill, we, we had in, in one part of our bill, we, uh, had placed, uh, revisions to the HOPE, um, Reserve Fund. Um, i- if you recall, that was 50%, went to 100%. Um, that came out when it came to the House floor. There was no, uh, mechanism, you know, to change that. We are still at 50%, but in, in conversations with the, uh, governor's office of, of, um, Planning and Budget, uh, and others, we are, um, changing on lines 469 and 470 to keep the lottery reserve at the net proceeds deposited or the base lottery spend, whichever is greater in order to peg that number.

[0:29:09] Because if, uh, if one would recall, m- mostly when we took our financial literacy courses, they normally tell you to keep a three-month emergency fund on your expenses, not your income. And so we had previously been keeping our lottery reserve based on the proceeds, the income, and so we suggested doing that on base lottery spend. And then in consultation with Representative Stacey Evans, she, she suggested, or, or either the higher of the two. Because, uh, sometimes the spend could be higher, sometimes revenue could be higher, and we wanted to protect the HOPE reserve.

[0:29:40] So we k- we, we keep it at 50, which was the agreed upon number, the way it has been, and we use, um, the base lottery spend, which is defined on 458 to 466 to make sure we don't take into account, um, single year extraordinary expenses, um, and keep that base at 50.

[0:30:05] That was actually, that bill was, that was language that was added in the Senate in, in their 4, 413 in consultation, um, with the governor's office and, and the House. We, we talked about it. I was at the meeting, and it was, it was suggested by the Senate. Um, and again, it's something I've socialized. I, I know, uh, the, the ... Not that everybody doesn't pay attention to it, but I know, um, Representative Evans is, is somebody that's been really focused on that. Uh, I would encourage everybody to, to check with her if, if you, uh, have concerns a- about that.

[0:30:38] But she has been part of that discussion so that we protect the, the HOPE Scholarship.

[0:30:47] And

[0:30:52] I somehow, as I was going through there, turned a page and did not touch one point that I did wanna, that, that was a change that I wanna go back and, and do.

[0:31:14] A par- it's in Part 5.

[0:31:16] Mm-hmm.

[0:31:18] If you will recall, in Part 5 in, um, House Bill 962, our 529 plan about the, um, um, the raising of the, the maximum, which y- you're seeing on lines 377 through 385. There was also a second portion in there where we were going with parity, and we were allowing ta- state tax deductions for out-of-state plans. Um, the, the Senate had some thoughts on that. They actually took it out of their, their section of the bill.

[0:31:48] We, we again have worked with OPB, um, and they are, they are, uh, have no objections to the, the new language here. We're using parity. If other states allow their citizens to invest in the Georgia plan and get a sta- tax deduction, we will allow our citizens to invest in theirs. Um, and at the suggestion to, to te- test drive, if you will, and look at the fiscal impact of it, we've cut that donation in half. Instead of four and eight for the Georgia, um- ...

[0:32:20] uh, contributions into our 529 plan. We have, uh, cut that to two and four. Um, mo- most, most folks are gonna fall within that. Uh, and we have also put a five-year sunset on that. So for, for the folks that are concerned that this somehow, uh, could, could provide be, be anti our plan, we are, we are sunsetting that. So that is something that we're suggesting. Um, with that, I'll answer questions. Um, let me just wind up and say the, the differences from the Senate plan are thus.

[0:32:52] Um, we have included the fine arts, uh, piece, uh, but that has passed the Senate previously. That passed the Senate in, in SB556, so I assume they would still be in line with that. And then we have all of the provisions that were in the s- Senate bill, uh, with the, the two additions, um, that we have, uh, placed back in, um, the, uh, framework for the medical scholarships and, um, language that has been pared down, um, for, uh, the 529 plan.

[0:33:25] So those are the, the differences from the, the Senate version, uh, on there. And this just gives us a- an opportunity should we need it if the, the Senate bill, um, you know, fails to, um, get traction or if, if they get more busy than us. We just have a, we have an opportunity. Again, this bill, this House bill can't, can't move forward. Uh, this just provides us a belt and suspenders approach. Um, I'll answer questions. Number 11.

[0:33:51] Representative Burnough.

[0:33:52] Representative Burnough.

[0:33:52] Um, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, uh, since, uh, we're adding things, I had a question for Chairman Dickey. Um, is Reach completely funded?

[0:34:05] I do.

[0:34:06] Uh, as far as I... Excuse me. As far as I know, um, yes. Uh, for what, uh, was in the governor's budget, uh, we have... Thank you for that question. Um, Greene is, uh, the director, uh, is out there and he's shaking his head. So yes, I think six million, something in that, uh, neighborhood. Uh, we'd love to g- grow that program. Uh, it's doing real well. But, uh, thank you for that.

[0:34:34] Okay. I was just asking- ... if we were adding things, then we could add Reach. Thank you.

[0:34:42] Yeah. Yes, ma'am, that's, that's a good question. I know that, uh, Chairman Dickey and the, the lady is, uh, very, uh, focused on, on bringing that good program forward. But to, to be clear, the... We, we have added things to this bill, but nothing has been added that hasn't passed, you know, uh, us before. So we're not, we're not looking to, as they said a few years ago, tack, tack things on per se. Um-

[0:35:01] Yeah

[0:35:01] ... Representative Glaize.

[0:35:02] Okay. I was just, um, wondering what, um, bill section 5 is from. I didn't get that.

[0:35:10] Se- section five.

[0:35:12] Yes.

[0:35:12] Yes, fi- se- section five was, um, House Bill 962.

[0:35:16] 962.

[0:35:16] Yeah, and there, there have been changes to that. Again, we, we had the, uh, fund, the, the board setting the, the top cap.

[0:35:23] Yes.

[0:35:23] We've gone with the governor's recommendation of 550.

[0:35:26] Mm-hmm.

[0:35:26] We had, uh, in our bill as it passed, we s- we said we'd have full parity. We have cut that back to reciprocity, and we've cut the number from eight and four for out-of-state plans to four and two. And we've also put a five-year, uh, sunset on that to make sure it's, it's the right thing. The idea is we wanna create more savings, uh, not borrow from the, the Georgia plan.

[0:35:48] Okay. Thank you.

[0:35:48] A- any further questions? Chairman Dickey.

[0:35:51] Um, along those lines of, um, Representative Bur- Burr, um, the Dream Scholarship. Um, uh, of course, if we were to, um, use that language, uh, we'd have to have, uh, budget money, um, in the budget, which we will not know until tomorrow. Well, h- h- could you expand on that?

[0:36:12] Yeah. F- for the Dreams or for the graduate medical scholarship?

[0:36:16] Dreams.

[0:36:17] Okay. The, the, the Dreams has been funded. It was funded in the '26 budget.

[0:36:21] Oh, okay.

[0:36:22] Um, and, and it is... I, I can draw, uh, gentlemen's attention specifically. The, it's, it's funded through the endowment fund, and it has three accounts: a principal account, a scholarship and account, and a tr- transitional account. For the first two years, scholarships will be funded out of that 25 million transitional account.

[0:36:39] Okay.

[0:36:39] So that is funded in '26 budget.

[0:36:41] Thank you.

[0:36:42] We, we are still, um... The, the funding for the graduate medical scholarship that we have, uh, installed the framework in is still under discussion in the '27 budget. An- any further? Uh, Dr. Clark.

[0:36:57] Um, thank you, Mr. Chair. And I guess because we didn't hear this bill, I'm actually not 100%, um, clear on what we're doing on line, uh, 441 and 442, um, with the adding of part-time students. So, um, the way I'm understanding it is that, um, the, um... We're excluding... Or, uh, maybe I'll just let you explain.

[0:37:26] Ye- yes, ma'am. I mean, and, and I would, um... It, it's... Yeah. Well, let me get, get to what I I personally, in, in my, you know, knowledge, d- don't think it's needed because I don't think part-time employees are required to be in ERS. And by definition, a, a, a student that is, is a, a part-time student but working in the work studies program, you know, is, is a subset of part-time employees. But this was requested by TCSG, as these students would not ever achieve, um, um...

[0:38:02] N- not tenure. What am I looking for here?

[0:38:04] Vest.

[0:38:04] They would not ever vest. Yes, ma'am.

[0:38:06] Yes.

[0:38:06] They would not ever vest. So th- their participation, if they were required to put money in themselves or, or the state on their behalf, would, would not be, um, you know, the best use of their funds. So full-time students at... And, and if, if I might add, Carter Barrett, um- Excuse me. Representative Barrett, uh, was Vice Chairman of the committee, was the author of the original bill, so I'll let him speak to that.

[0:38:28] And just a point of clarification, we actually did pass this out of committee, right? And it, it just didn't get to the floor.

[0:38:33] It pa- passed out of the, the, the re- the Retirement Committee, yes. It was vetted in the Retirement, 'cause this is that exact language.

[0:38:40] And, uh, and so if I reme- I'm going from memory. And last week's been kind of crazy, so in the Senate, um, uh, the, the chairman of the Senate took a lot of different bills that were all great bills in their own right. Most of them were heard in this committee. Uh, but because of the sheer number of bills and the need to, and, and the desire to, to get these things included and increase the odds of getting something passed this year, he- they were all combined. And the chairman, in fact, is right here.

[0:39:10] Thank you. Yep. What we've sought to do is, is to create a, a similar process that they have. We have a, a couple of slight differences with the, the House proposal, but we look forward to working with the, the Senate on those.

[0:39:22] I think I got it.

[0:39:23] A- a- absolutely, and, and that's why we wanted to do this, because I didn't want to bring this ... If, if we get to the point where we need to bring it, I didn't want to bring it on the floor without, you know, socializing it with our, with our committee. Are there, are there further questions? Further questions in regards to the item? I ... Uh, yes, Representative Glaize.

[0:39:39] At the appropriate time, Chairman, I'd like to offer due pass.

[0:39:43] Uh, yes, ma'am. Um, I, I mean, if, if there's somebody pining to speak to this, I would, would allow it. We, we've ... These are items we've all heard before. I don't know that there's anything ... Uh, okay. We, we don't have any speakers. If there are no further questions, now would be the appropriate time.

[0:40:03] On LC610517S, House Bill 1300, I offer due pass.

[0:40:11] I have a motion. Is there a second?

[0:40:13] Second.

[0:40:14] I have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Any discussion? If not, all those in favor say aye.

[0:40:20] Aye.

[0:40:21] Any opposed, no. No, thank you very much. It moves forward to Rules with due pass recommendation. If I could just, um, borrow the committee for one second here and let, let me, um, o- offer my thanks to you, Dr. Clark. I think this will probably be our last meeting as, as a Higher Ed committee, and you're going on to different things. We wish you the best. Um, not here with us is, uh, Representative Edna Jackson, former mayor of Savannah.

[0:40:43] Oh, I'm here.

[0:40:44] Oh, you are here. Look at her. She slipped in. Well, there, there you go. See, I'm not used to, uh, Representative Jackson being that quiet over there. I'm just telling you, you slipped right in on me. R- Representative Jackson, we are gonna miss you, and we're gonna come see you, and we're gonna make sure that Savannah State's looked after.

[0:41:00] Thank you.

[0:41:00] Yes, ma'am. We're gonna do that. And, uh, not with us today, but also, uh, been a valuable member and a former officer on the committee, uh, um, Representative Tim Fleming. We wanna wish him the best in, in his, uh, future endeavors. So we, we thank you, uh, all three for, for your participation in our committee. Uh, Anna, thank you. Molly, thank you. Jeannie, thank you all for, for staf- uh, staffing, um, uh, our committee this year, and I thank you, all the members, for all you have done for, for Georgia, uh, to do that, uh, to, to do that.

[0:41:31] And, uh, and the vice chair reminds me, I have a bill here that I wanna mention. We talked about earlier in the year, uh, Representative Carmen Rice had House Bill 1064 about CLT, and we didn't have enough information. I wanted to, uh, um, sound, uh, for the record here that, uh, the vice chairman of the committee, Carter Barrett, is gonna lead an effort in the off session, um, to work on with those three organizations and anyone else that might offer, uh, testing that we would use to try to get name brands out of the testing module and, and get something that we could have as a concurrence or a table to use.

[0:42:07] He'll lead that effort in the off s- session. If, uh, members are interested in working with him on that, let me know, and I will try to get us, uh, three or four members to go along with him. Uh, and we'll try to come back with a, um, a, a good idea and, and take that to, uh, uh, Representative Rice so that we can move on that next year, uh, for, for, um, 10, 1064. That would be our, our posture on that. If there's no further ... Uh, yes, uh, we do have f- further question. Dr. Clark.

[0:42:35] Um, so you just, um, brought something back up that I, uh, I feel like we also had similar conversations about the different advanced courses that go into HOPE Scholarship. Obviously, I won't, uh, be ... Well, actually, I'm still here till the end of, uh, December, no matter what. But, um, I also would love to suggest a conversation with, like, College Board, Cambridge, and all of these other institutions that have come to us in this committee saying, "Hey, we want our, our programs to be considered in scholarships and, and such." I think it's, it's that.

[0:43:15] No, ab- ab- absolutely. And if, if the lady remembers, th- that's what we did in 556 for the new fine arts thing. We, we took the names out of that, and we, we defined the courses. And we're gonna work with Mr. Green in Institute of Finance on, on how to do those, not only to, to find the courses that are advanced placement, the ones that, um, need to have rigor for extra weighting. So we'll, we'll work on, we'll work on that as well. That's w- well said. Uh, Representative Glaize.

[0:43:39] I'm just going to volunteer to be a part of that program, an opportunity for us to bring information back.

[0:43:47] We'll ma- we'll make w- note of that. Yes, ma'am. We'll do that.

[0:43:49] Okay. Thank you.

[0:43:49] Yes, ma'am. If there's nothing further, I thank everybody. Yes, ma'am.

[0:43:54] I'm next. Oh, maybe I turned it off. I'm sorry. I didn't open it up. I just wanted to say thank you. I apologize.

[0:44:00] You got one, you got one over there.

[0:44:01] Oh.

[0:44:04] I just wanted to say thank you. I've enjoyed being a part of this committee, and I, like others, you know, would like to continue to serve for that because, you know, higher education is, is so important, uh, to me. And I think that this committee has functioned, uh, in a wonderful way. And you won't have anybody to argue with anymore. But, uh, but we do need to continue what we're doing. Thank you.

[0:44:33] Thank, thank you, Representative Jackson. I me- I mean this in a, in a funny sort of way here on April 1st and in a very sincere sort of way, if I have to, I'll send a car to Savannah to get you-

[0:44:42] Oh.

[0:44:42] ... to come up here and, and say uh, so.

[0:44:44] Thank you. And I will be here.

[0:44:44] Because, because I'm gonna have to send a car, 'cause the Higher Ed helicopter is in the shop.

[0:44:50] Okay.

[0:44:50] But we, we, we do appreciate that. I d- I do have one request. Uh, after adjournment if, if we could gather around here. Our, uh, our learned, uh, uh, analyst has her famous sign that, that she does on every day, and we're gonna do a 39 and a half day photo for posterity if y'all would, would come in here for us.

[0:45:07] Oh, yeah.

[0:45:07] With that, I thank you again so much for a great 25, 26. If there's no objection, we'll stand adjourned without objection, and we are adjourned.