---
type: "Bill"
title: "Georgia Early Literacy Act; enact"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the O.C.G.A., relating to elementary and secondary education, so as to provide for the \"Georgia Early Literacy Act\"; to require the State Board of Education to approve high-quality instructional materials to be used for teaching students in kindergarten through third grade; to provide for definitions; to provide for legislative findings and intent; to provide for a short title; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2023_24"
identifier: "HB 538"
citation: "Georgia HB 538 (2023_24)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Becky Evans", "Bethany Ballard", "Carl Gilliard", "Chris Erwin", "Jan Jones", "Will Wade"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 18
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2023-02-22"
last_action: "2023-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c31cc2e9-bc12-486a-8ef0-f603c571df9b"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "84d6fd873ddb52bbfab4f50ad88ff7e0e5e5a2e1a57a6aa904302bc1cfe121f3"
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 538 (2023_24) — Georgia Early Literacy Act; enact

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the O.C.G.A., relating to elementary and secondary education, so as to provide for the "Georgia Early Literacy Act"; to require the State Board of Education to approve high-quality instructional materials to be used for teaching students in kindergarten through third grade; to provide for definitions; to provide for legislative findings and intent; to provide for a short title; 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 538/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/220431.pdf)
2. **LC 49 1342/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/215628.pdf)
3. **LC 49 1410S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/217232.pdf)
4. **LC 49 1410S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/216898.pdf)
5. **SCSFA to HB 538** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/219681.pdf)
6. **Sen ctee sub LC 49 1427S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/218784.pdf)
7. **Sen floor amend 1 AM 49 0107** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20232024/219680.pdf)

## Votes

- Senate Vote #312 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **48–1** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #208 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **174–0** (pass) · lower
- House Vote #355 - 2023-2024 Regular Session — **164–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Becky Evans — primary (person)
- Bethany Ballard — primary (person)
- Carl Gilliard — primary (person)
- Chris Erwin — primary (person)
- Jan Jones — primary (person)
- Will Wade — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-22** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2023-02-23** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2023-02-27** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2023-03-02** 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`
- **2023-03-21** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-21** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2023-03-27** Senate Tabled
- **2023-03-27** Senate Taken from Table
- **2023-03-27** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2023-03-27** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2023-03-29** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2023-04-05** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-13** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-13** Act 9 `executive-signature`
- **2023-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c31cc2e9-bc12-486a-8ef0-f603c571df9b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).