(The Center Square) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a series of bills he said will “help us further connect Georgians with lifelong opportunity and build that workforce of tomorrow.”
Among the bills Kemp, a Republican, signed is Senate Bill 3, the “Reducing Barriers to State Employment Act of 2023.” The measure eliminates a college degree requirement for some state government jobs.
“These bills are really a continuation of our commitment to quality education, and that’s been a priority of mine since day one,” Kemp said during a bill-signing ceremony. “It’s been a priority of a lot of people in this room, and it’s been the priority of our state for decades. We are continuing that legacy.
“…Every one of these bills received overwhelming bipartisan support on the way to my desk,” the governor added. “That’s because, in Georgia, we don’t play politics with opportunities the way that some do in Washington, DC. We simply have rolled up our sleeves and kept working to bring even more jobs and investment to every community in our state.”
House Bill 163 establishes a service loan repayment program for medical examiners, enabling them to receive up to $120,000 per person for serving five years, while SB 246 creates a loan repayment program for nursing instructors, which proponents say will help increase the number of nurses in the state. HB 155 facilitates occupational licenses for people moving to Georgia, which proponents say will eliminate obstacles for new residents who want to pursue their professions.
SB 86 creates a three-year pilot program to allow eligible dual enrollment students to access HOPE Grant funds for “high-demand career initiative fields” for eligible courses. HB 607 updates the Zell Miller Scholarship’s ACT score requirements to provide “parity” with the SAT eligibility score.
“The good news is we’ve got a lot of opportunities coming to the state of Georgia,” Lt. Governor Burt Jones said during a bill signing ceremony. “We’ve got a lot of new businesses, we’ve got a lot of existing businesses wanting to grow. The bad news is we’ve got to have people.”
By T.A. DeFeo | The Center Square contributor
