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House committee approves renaming of GOSA, assigns statewide workforce coordination role
Summary
The Georgia House Education Committee approved HB1302 (LC492730), renaming the Governor's Office of Student Achievement to the Governor's Office of Education and Workforce Strategy and giving it coordination responsibility for state workforce plans; members won assurances apprenticeships will remain locally run and TCSG will be the state apprenticeship agency effective 2027-01-01.
On 2026-03-02 the Georgia House Education Committee voted to approve HB1302 (LC492730), a substitute that renames the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) and assigns it new coordination duties for the state’s workforce planning, including submission of federal WIOA and Perkins plans.
The bill, presented by the House floor leader, would change GOSA’s name to the Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Strategy and make that office the lead coordinator to bring together state education and workforce partners, including the Department of Education, the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) and the Department of Labor. The substitute also designates TCSG as the state apprenticeship agency and sets the effective date for that designation as Jan. 1, 2027.
Supporters said the change is organizational and meant to improve coordination, not to move program authority. “This legislation does this by designating the governor’s office of student achievement, so GOSA, as the lead coordinator to bring together the agencies that have participated in the governor’s workforce strategy team,” the floor leader said during his presentation. He and the chairman stressed that GOSA is not being eliminated or replaced; rather, it would take on added coordination responsibilities while agencies that currently run programs would continue operational work.
Members raised concerns about whether the change would shift curriculum decisions or centralize control of apprenticeship programs. The floor leader answered repeatedly that the substitution is limited to coordination and reporting: the local agencies and the Technical College System continue to run the programs. To address apprenticeship partners’ worries, the substitute replaces earlier language that implied transfer of programs with a requirement to report existing programs to the state. Mark Peavey of TCSG told the committee the state-level role is intended to reduce administrative burden and provide a single view of apprenticeship offerings, not to take over local programs. “Bringing this autonomy down to the state level gives us an opportunity to work directly with our local state partners,” Peavey said.
A motion to table the bill was offered and failed after a hand count. The committee then voted to approve the substitute; the chairman and the floor leader thanked partners and noted the bill had been adjusted following subcommittee meetings with apprenticeship stakeholders. The substitute also includes technical clean-up language and the creation of a unified state workforce plan aligned to federal cycles.
The committee vote sends HB1302 forward to the next steps in the legislative process. The committee record shows the bill carrier committed to meeting with members who requested additional briefings and to provide more detail for any remaining questions about authority and structure.
Next steps: HB1302 moves from committee toward the House floor and, pending floor action, to the Senate.
