ATLANTA – State Representative Floyd Griffin (D-Milledgeville) recently introduced House Bill 436, which would repeal Senate Bill 233, the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act.
“Last year, the Georgia General Assembly barely passed the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, or the school voucher program bill,” said Rep. Griffin. “Since being signed into law, the voucher bill’s implementation has been fraught with delays and unforeseen challenges, causing further issues for our public education system. The voucher program disproportionately affects our state’s rural school districts, where private schools are inaccessible to most families. We see a similar challenge in urban school districts, where transportation and private school tuition costs also make the voucher program unattainable for families. In attempting to improve our school systems, the program has done the exact opposite and has reduced vital funding to students and families who rely on public education.”
HB 436 would repeal the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, which was signed into law last year and became effective on April 23, 2024. Currently, the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act provides $6,500 per student to families for qualified education-related expenses outside of the public school system. Qualified education expenses include tuition at a participating school, tutoring, purchase of curriculum, professional services, transportation, fees for the management of account funds and other expenses authorized by the State Board of Education, the Georgia Education Savings Authority or individual education expenses authorized by the parent review committee.
The full text of HB 436 may be found here.
Representative Floyd Griffin represents the citizens of District 149, which includes portions of Baldwin, Bibb and Jones counties. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2024 and currently serves on the Defense & Veterans Affairs, Special Rules and State Planning & Community Affairs committees.
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