Georgia Senate Bill SB152

Georgia 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/12/25
• Refer: 2/13/25
• Report Pass: 2/26/25
• Engrossed: 2/28/25
• Report Pass: 4/2/25

Caption

"Georgia Promise Scholarship Act"; the biological or adopted children of individuals who are foster parents and who meet certain conditions shall qualify for promise scholarship accounts; provide

Summary

SB 152 amends Georgia’s Promise Scholarship Act, which governs promise scholarship accounts used to help eligible students pay for educational expenses. The bill makes several changes to eligibility and administration. Most notably, it creates a new eligibility category for the biological or adopted children of individuals who are foster parents, so long as those children meet the other student requirements in the program. It also clarifies existing student qualification language, including residence and school-enrollment criteria, and preserves priority for students who previously participated in the program when demand exceeds available funding. The bill also expands the Education Savings Authority’s authority to verify applicant eligibility by allowing limited information-sharing with the Department of Revenue to confirm whether an applicant’s income exceeds the program’s income threshold, and with the Department of Human Services to verify foster parent status. At the same time, it reinforces confidentiality protections for student and financial records and restricts disclosure of tax information obtained from federal sources. The act is set to take effect on July 1, 2025, and repeals conflicting laws.

Impact

SB 152 would amend Chapter 2B of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, affecting the operation of Georgia’s promise scholarship account program. It would broaden the pool of eligible students by adding children of foster parents, refine existing eligibility rules, and authorize interagency verification procedures involving the Department of Revenue and the Department of Human Services. The bill would also create new statutory definitions for “biological or adopted child” and “foster parent,” and it would impose confidentiality and tax-information handling requirements on agencies involved in eligibility verification.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests the bill had majority support but also meaningful opposition. The Senate passed the substitute version 32-22 after a 31-22 motion to engross, indicating a partisan or policy divide rather than broad consensus. No committee transcript excerpts were provided, so the record here shows support sufficient for passage but not unanimity, with the vote totals reflecting a contested education-policy measure.

Contention

The main points of contention likely center on the Promise Scholarship program itself: whether state education funds should be expanded or redirected through scholarship accounts, and whether the eligibility rules should be broadened to include children of foster parents. Another likely issue is the bill’s income-verification mechanism, which allows the Education Savings Authority to share applicant information with the Department of Revenue and DHS. Supporters would likely view these provisions as improving access and administrative integrity, while opponents may raise concerns about privacy, government data sharing, and the scope of the scholarship program.