Legislation to Modernize Georgia’s Education and Workforce Development System Signed into Law

ATLANTA - State Representative Matthew Gambill (R-Cartersville), a Governor's Floor Leader, recently announced that House Bill 1302, legislation he sponsored to modernize and restructure Georgia's education and workforce development system, has been signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp.

"I was happy to carry House Bill 1302 as part of the governor's legislative package," said Floor Leader Gambill. "This measure represented the third step in our ongoing effort to make Georgia the 'Top State for Talent.' Each bill has built upon the previous one with the goal of streamlining workforce development initiatives and ensuring Georgia has the skilled workforce necessary to remain the number one state for business. This year's legislation, HB 1302, renamed the Governor's Office of Student Achievement to the Governor's Office of Education and Workforce Strategy. While the office will continue its important work in areas such as literacy and student achievement, it will now also serve a broader coordinating role by convening state agencies involved in developing Georgia's unified federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act plan and the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act plan. The overall objective of this effort is to better align education and workforce strategies, so that Georgia students are prepared for high-demand, high-skill and high-wage careers that will support our state's continued economic growth and competitiveness."

HB 1302 modernizes and restructures Georgia's education and workforce development system by expanding statewide coordination across education, training and labor-market planning. The bill renames the Office of Student Achievement as the Office of Education and Workforce Strategy and expands its role in aligning data systems and interagency planning, including a unified Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and Perkins State Plan to better connect secondary, postsecondary and adult education programs with regional workforce needs and federal requirements.

The legislation also designates the Technical College System of Georgia as the state apprenticeship agency and renames the High Demand Apprenticeship Program to the Top State for Talent Pre-Apprenticeship and Apprenticeship Program. It also expands support for pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship sponsors, offers financial incentives such as contraction completion awards, prioritizes high-demand career fields and updates certain reporting requirements. Additionally, the legislation creates an Education Data Governance Board and strengthens the role of the Office of College and Career Academies in supporting workforce-aligned education initiatives statewide.

The full text of HB 1302 may be found here.

Representative Matthew Gambill represents the citizens of District 15, which includes a portion of Bartow County. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and currently serves as a Governor's Floor Leader, Vice Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government and Vice Chairman of the Economic Development & Tourism Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Economic Development, Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight, Higher Education, Human Relations & Aging, Insurance and Natural Resources & Environment committees.

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