Yesterday, Governor Nathan Deal signed House Bill 217 into law, thereby increasing the annual cap on the Georgia Education Expense Credit Program from $58 million to $100 million for the next decade. The signing of HB 217 marks the largest expansion of this program since its inception in 2008. The increase in the cap on Education Expense Credits will provide thousands of additional Georgia students the opportunity to attend the schools of their parents’ choice.  

HB 217 also moderately reduces the fees which student scholarship organizations (like Georgia GOAL) are allowed to retain and clarifies and improves the scholarship reporting process to the Georgia Department of Revenue. Finally, the bill includes a provision requiring State auditors to evaluate the program in five years to determine its financial and economic impact to the State, a responsible exercise which, if conducted in a fair and objective manner, will evidence a significant annual savings to the State and great benefit to the public.

Georgia GOAL sincerely appreciates Representative John Carson’s visionary sponsorship of HB 217, Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle’s leadership in the Senate, Governor Nathan Deal’s signing of this important legislation, and the many other individuals who played such an essential role in securing the passage of HB 217 this legislative session, including thousands of taxpayer-donors, scholarship recipient families, and participating school officials across the state.