---
type: "Bill"
title: "Education; needs based financial aid program; provide definition"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Subpart 2A of Part 3 of Article 7 of Chapter 3 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the needs based financial aid program, so as to provide for a definition; to provide for a maximum award amount; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2023_24"
identifier: "HB 249"
citation: "Georgia HB 249 (2023_24)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Charles Martin", "Houston Gaines", "Jan Jones", "Lauren McDonald", "Scott Hilton"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 18
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2023-02-06"
last_action: "2023-05-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7517e938-b853-4fcb-968f-3249c894b699"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "4aafe4e9325bf99a52e48676296e76b0a099294c9c2fdb9348dc4410338e8c80"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ga"]
---

# Georgia HB 249 (2023_24) — Education; needs based financial aid program; provide definition

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Subpart 2A of Part 3 of Article 7 of Chapter 3 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the needs based financial aid program, so as to provide for a definition; to provide for a maximum award amount; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB 249/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/220440.pdf)
2. **LC 50 0460/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/213746.pdf)
3. **LC 50 0537S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/216987.pdf)
4. **LC 50 0537S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/215976.pdf)
5. **Sen ctee sub LC 50 0593S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/219132.pdf)

## Votes

- Senate Vote #359 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **51–1** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #381 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **168–0** (pass) · lower
- House Vote #160 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **168–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Charles Martin — primary (person)
- Houston Gaines — primary (person)
- Jan Jones — primary (person)
- Lauren McDonald — primary (person)
- Scott Hilton — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-02-06** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2023-02-07** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2023-02-08** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2023-02-27** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-06** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2023-03-06** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2023-03-07** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-09** Senate Withdrawn & Recommitted `referral-committee, withdrawal`
- **2023-03-23** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-23** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2023-03-27** Senate Tabled
- **2023-03-29** Senate Taken from Table
- **2023-03-29** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2023-03-29** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2023-03-29** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2023-04-06** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-05** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-05** Veto V5 `executive-veto`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7517e938-b853-4fcb-968f-3249c894b699`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).