Rep. Marvin Lim Issues Letter Asking Governor Kemp to Convene QBE Funding Task Force Required by State Law

ATLANTA - State Representative Marvin Lim (D-Norcross) is asking Governor Brian Kemp to convene a task force that, under O.C.G.A § 20-2-161, is required to review the program weights used in the state's Quality Basic Education (QBE) funding formula.

"We have a school funding formula that assigns different weights based on what it costs to educate different students, but the law also recognizes that those costs don't stay frozen forever," said Rep. Lim. "That's why the law says to look at the weights every three years. We haven't been able to find evidence that this required review has happened in more than a decade. If there's a review we've missed, we want to know about it. If there isn't, we're asking that the task force be appointed."

In a September 1, 2026, letter to Gov. Kemp, Rep. Lim, joined by State Representatives Karen Lupton (D-Chamblee) and David Wilkerson (D-Powder Springs), pointed to O.C.G.A. § 20-2-161, which requires the governor to appoint a task force every three years to review whether the existing QBE program weights remain effective and recommend needed changes to the General Assembly. Rep. Lim notes that the task force would include representatives of the General Assembly, State Board of Education, Governor's Office and local school systems.

"The requirement has been mandatory since 2000, when the General Assembly changed the statute from saying the governor was 'authorized to appoint' the task force to saying the governor 'shall appoint' it," added Rep. Lim. "Questions about compliance with the requirement date back at least to 2010. That year, the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts found that, apart from salaries and benefits, the cost components underlying QBE had not been reviewed in more than 19 years."

Rep. Lim further notes that auditors found that a QBE task force had been appointed in 2004, but its work shifted to a broader education reform effort and a proposed new funding model that was never completed. Rep. Lim adds that the audit recommended either convening the task force periodically as the law requires or changing the law. He also notes that Georgia has undertaken other school funding reviews since then, including the State Education Finance Study Commission that reviewed QBE in 2011 and 2012. Governor Nathan Deal also appointed an Education Reform Commission in 2015 that made recommendations concerning QBE and its program weights.

Reps. Lim, Lupton and Wilkerson further note that they have not been able to identify a task force appointed under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-161 since then, or another gubernatorial commission that has performed the required review. They add that even if the 2015 Education Reform Commission is treated as satisfying the statute, subsequent reviews would have been due approximately in 2018, 2021 and 2024. The representatives' letter asks the Governor's Office to identify the appointment, membership and resulting report or recommendations if such a review occurred.

"The 2015 commission did a great deal of work, but we're now more than ten years removed from it," said Rep. Lupton. "School systems are dealing with costs today that aren't the costs they faced in 2015. The statute gives us a process for periodically looking at that. We should use it."

The legislators have also introduced legislation addressing the QBE weights and the review process itself. In 2025, the Reps. Lim, Lupton and Wilkerson introduced legislation proposing changes to QBE program weights based on recommendations made by the bipartisan 2015 Education Reform Commission. Those recommendations ultimately did not result in legislation changing the QBE formula.

During the 2026 legislative session, Reps. Lim, Lupton and Wilkerson introduced House Bill 1604, which would require the QBE task force to meet every two years rather than every three years and require it to prepare and submit a report. The bill was assigned to the House Education Committee. The legislation also seeks to ensure that the review addresses healthcare costs. The representatives note that since 2010, Georgia has eliminated state funding for the employer health-insurance contribution for noncertified school employees, shifting that expense to local school systems. The legislators specifically identified those healthcare costs as something that should be considered in reviewing whether the state's funding formula reflects what school systems actually have to pay.

"We've already introduced legislation to update the weights using the work that was done in 2015, and this year we introduced HB 1604 to make these reviews more frequent, require an actual report and make sure healthcare costs are part of the discussion," said Rep. Wilkerson. "But none of that changes the fact that there's already a law on the books requiring a review every three years."

"For me, the most basic question is pretty simple," concluded Rep. Lim. "The purpose of our letter is not to presume that no review has occurred. We are asking Gov. Kemp to provide information about if a qualifying task force or review was conducted during his administration. If one has not occurred, we are asking him to appoint the task force now. We want to know what it actually costs in 2026 to educate a student in each of these categories and how close the weights are in our formula to those costs. We shouldn't have to guess. Georgia law created a recurring process for answering that question, and we're asking for that process to happen."

Rep. Lim provides the September 1, 2026, letter here and notes it was also copied to the state auditor.

Representative Marvin Lim represents the citizens of District 98, which includes a portion of Gwinnett County. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2020 and currently serves on the Agriculture & Consumer Affairs, Appropriations, Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety, Health and Retirement committees.

Representative Karen Lupton represents the citizens of District 83, which includes a portion of DeKalb County. She was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2022 and currently serves on the Education, Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications and Human Relations & Aging committees.

Representative David Wilkerson represents the citizens of District 38, which includes a portion of Cobb County. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2010 and currently serves on the Budget & Fiscal Affairs Oversight, Education, Judiciary Juvenile and Retirement committees.

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