Committee hears bill to extend Georgia Public Safety Memorial tuition benefit to spouses

The House Higher Education Committee heard House Bill 56 on the Georgia Public Safety Memorial Grant, a proposal to extend the program’s tuition benefit to spouses of law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and correctional officers killed in the line of duty.

Chairman Petrie, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee the proposal “very simply, seeks to add the spouses of those individuals to the eligibility,” and said the change is intended to “allow them to better advance themselves to support their family going forward.” He told the panel that in 2024 about 403 students received the grant for a total of $658,902 and that “currently there are $3,800,000 in reserves for this program.”

The bill as drafted keeps the program limited to full-time enrollment. Several members raised concerns that requiring full-time status could bar surviving spouses who must work or care for children. Hailey Corbett, a representative of the Georgia Student Finance Commission, said the commission “would welcome guidance from the General Assembly” and that the agency could implement a change allowing part-time students if legislative counsel and the committee directed it.

Members also questioned a drafting point that could leave volunteer firefighters out of coverage when they act off duty. Representative Clark pressed whether a volunteer firefighter who dies responding to an emergency while off duty would be eligible; the committee asked legislative counsel to review the bill’s language to ensure volunteers are captured if that was the committee’s intent.

By the end of the hearing, committee members signaled general support for returning the bill with a sub that would allow spouses to participate on a part-time basis and for legislative counsel to clarify the volunteer-firefighter language. The author said he would work with counsel and bring back amended language; there was no formal vote during the hearing.