Ways and Means
HB 92
This bill aims to extend the deadline for HB 581 (the Homestead Floating Exemptions Act passed in 2024). It cleans up the language and is designed to give Georgia communities more time to analyze the exemption and potentially save Georgia homeowners and taxpayers some money on their assessments. This bill will extend the opt-out deadline to March 1.
The bill passed committee.
Higher Education
HB 38
This bill amends the Georgia College Completion Grant Program, a 3-year program that will be ending this year. To be eligible, students must currently be enrolled in a University System of Georgia (USG), Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), or participating private postsecondary institution; must have completed 80% of the credit requirements for the credential they are pursuing; and must have an unmet financial need.
The college or university selects the students who would best benefit from receiving the completion grant. There are no merit requirements, and the lifetime award total for each recipient is $2,500. In the program’s first year, $7.3 million of the appropriated $10 million was awarded to 6,000 students. Leftover money could be used at the institution’s discretion to help other students in financial need or could be rolled over to the next fiscal year.
The program is intended as a completion grant that can be awarded to students in a 2- or 4-year program who have completed at least 80% of their credits, but 80% of a 2-year program means the student is likely in their last semester and cannot take advantage of the grant. This bill decreases the credit requirements for a 4-year program from 80% to 70% and the requirements for a 2-year program from 80% to 45%.
Another change includes extending the program, which is currently set to end in June 2026. The bill will extend the program’s sunset by another 4 years to 2029. If the lower requirements are beneficial, the sunset could potentially be removed and the program made permanent at the end of the four years.
The bill passed committee.
