2020 Capitol Report

January 13, 2020

Legislative Session

Day 1

Report Snapshot

Pushing for a Third Private School Voucher Program

Upcoming Schedule

Tuesday, Jan. 14 - Legislative Day 2

House Retirement, 2 p.m., 515 CLOB

Wednesday, Jan 15 - Legislative Day 3

Senate Higher Ed (Dual Enrollment bill is likely to be discussed), 1:30 p.m., 450 CAP

Thursday, Jan 16 - Legislative Day 3

Gov. Brian Kemp’s State of the State 2020 Address

Wednesday, Jan 22 - Budget Hearings

Education-Related State Budget Hearings, 1:30 pm, 341 CAP

The Georgia General Assembly convened under the Gold Dome in Atlanta today for the first day of the 2020 legislative session. Both chambers passed an adjournment resolution determining the first 14 days that the legislature will meet.

Though not officially in session, the House and Senate will hold hearings on the state budget next week to review the spending plan Gov. Brian Kemp proposes for the 2021 fiscal year as well as changes to the current budget. The General Assembly will be in session on the following dates according to the adjournment resolution:

Jan. 14: Legislative Day 2

Jan. 15: Legislative Day 3

Jan. 16: Legislative Day 4

Jan. 27: Legislative Day 5

Jan. 28: Legislative Day 6

Jan. 29: Legislative Day 7

Jan. 30: Legislative Day 8

Jan. 31: Legislative Day 9

Feb. 3: Legislative Day 10

Feb. 4: Legislative Day 11

Feb. 5: Legislative Day 12

Feb. 6: Legislative Day 13

Feb. 10: Legislative Day 14

Lawmakers will pass another resolution to set the remaining dates of the 40-day legislative session.

Pushing for a Third Private School Voucher Program

Private school vouchers is one of the critical issues PAGE is closely following during the legislative session. PAGE opposes the creation of a new private school voucher program. Moreover, PAGE seeks to add needed transparency and accountability requirements to Georgia’s two existing voucher programs . Education leaders -- including Chris Ragsdale, Superintendent of the Cobb County School District, and Grant Rivera, Superintendent of Marietta City Schools -- share PAGE’s concerns about vouchers. (Learn more here .)

PAGE recently published a special report on the state’s two existing voucher programs, Pushing Public Dollars to Private Schools: Vouchers in Georgia . The two voucher programs consume $129 million annually of the state’s resources. Though both have been in place for more than a decade, neither has been evaluated. Current legislative proposals to create a new type of voucher, an Education Savings Account program, are also described in the report . Proponents have called this latest version a voucher on steroids.

PAGE Day on Capitol Hill is Tuesday, Feb. 18. We’re pleased to partner with the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders (GAEL) and the Georgia Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (GACTE) again this year. Attendees will meet other politically minded educators from across the state and advocate for teachers and students under the Gold Dome. Please make your plans to attend and register here .

Margaret Ciccarelli

Director of Legislative Affairs; Staff Attorney

mciccarelli@pageinc.org

Claire Suggs

Senior Education Policy Analyst

csuggs@pageinc.org