Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Federal Guidance Transparency topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances SB22 to require state DOE to disclose federal guidance before implementing
Summary
Senate panel approved SB22, sponsored by Senator Tillery, which would require the State Department of Education to publish federal guidance it intends to implement and notify lawmakers and the public within set timeframes.
The Senate Education Committee advanced Senate Bill 22 on a unanimous voice vote after sponsor Senator Tillery described the measure as a step to increase transparency about federal guidance the Department of Education receives.
"When the Department of Education here in Georgia is going to adopt and implement federal guidance... they need to disclose to us what that federal guidance was," Senator Tillery said, adding the bill would require a disclosure within 15 days of receipt and a public posting and committee notification within 45 days.
Tillery said the measure borrows language from Tennessee, which passed similar transparency requirements, and that the purpose is to allow citizens and legislators to review federal guidance and respond if its proposed implementation differs from local expectations. "Here's how we think it's gonna be implemented, which then gives our citizens an opportunity to respond," he said.
Kennedy Atkins, government affairs manager at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation and Georgia Policy Impact, testified in favor of SB22, calling it "an improvement in transparency in government" and noting the bill would benefit lawmakers and the public regardless of which party controls the federal government. Atkins told the committee Tennessee had passed comparable legislation unanimously.
The committee moved and seconded a motion to pass SB22; the chair announced it passed unanimously. The committee did not record a roll-call vote in the transcript.
