republic-os/legislation/us/states/ga/2021-22/sb-397.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	General Educational Development (GED) Diplomas; update and replace terminology; state approved high school equivalency (HSE) diplomas; provide	A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Titles 15, 20, 25, 40, 42, and 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to courts, education, fire protection and safety, motor vehicles and traffic, penal institutions, and professions and businesses, respectively, so as to update and replace terminology related to general educational development (GED) diplomas; to provide for state approved high school equivalency (HSE) diplomas; to update the minimum standards and requirements for such diplomas to be established by the Technical College System of Georgia; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.	us/states/ga	Georgia General Assembly	2021_22	SB 397	Georgia SB 397 (2021_22)	bill		enacted	Ben Watson Bill Cowsert Billy Hickman Blake Tillery Bo Hatchett Brandon Beach Brian Strickland Bruce Thompson Burt Jones Butch Miller Carden Summers Chuck Payne Chuck Hufstetler Clint Dixon David Lucas Dean Burke Donzella James Elena Parent Emanuel Jones Frank Ginn Freddie Powell Sims Gail Davenport Gloria Butler Harold Jones II Horacena Tate Jason Anavitarte Jeff Mullis Jennifer Jordan John Albers John Kennedy Kay Kirkpatrick Kim Jackson Lee Anderson Lester Jackson Lindsey Tippins Marty Harbin Matt Brass Max Burns Michael 'Doc' Rhett Michelle Au Mike Dugan Nan Orrock Nikki Merritt Randy Robertson Russ Goodman Sheikh Rahman Sonya Halpern Steve Gooch Valencia Seay	4	15	1	2022-01-26	2022-07-01	openstates	ocd-bill/837b928a-249d-4790-afbf-6e7acada8c3f	http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl	f7e2a4a9e8264d7788a8445da430548037780274c9d7e7ded13ef41534945bfe	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-ga

Georgia SB 397 (2021_22) — General Educational Development (GED) Diplomas; update and replace terminology; state approved high school equivalency (HSE) diplomas; provide

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Titles 15, 20, 25, 40, 42, and 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to courts, education, fire protection and safety, motor vehicles and traffic, penal institutions, and professions and businesses, respectively, so as to update and replace terminology related to general educational development (GED) diplomas; to provide for state approved high school equivalency (HSE) diplomas; to update the minimum standards and requirements for such diplomas to be established by the Technical College System of Georgia; 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. As introduced LC 50 0241-EC (committee substitute) — source
2. As passed Senate (committee substitute) — source
3. Committee sub LC 50 0321-ECS (committee substitute) — source
4. SB 397/AP* (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE — 54–0 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Ben Watson — primary (person)
• Bill Cowsert — primary (person)
• Billy Hickman — primary (person)
• Blake Tillery — primary (person)
• Bo Hatchett — primary (person)
• Brandon Beach — primary (person)
• Brian Strickland — primary (person)
• Bruce Thompson — primary (person)
• Burt Jones — primary (person)
• Butch Miller — primary (person)
• Carden Summers — primary (person)
• Chuck Payne — primary (person)
• Chuck Hufstetler — primary (person)
• Clint Dixon — primary (person)
• David Lucas — primary (person)
• Dean Burke — primary (person)
• Donzella James — primary (person)
• Elena Parent — primary (person)
• Emanuel Jones — primary (person)
• Frank Ginn — primary (person)
• Freddie Powell Sims — primary (person)
• Gail Davenport — primary (person)
• Gloria Butler — primary (person)
• Harold Jones II — primary (person)
• Horacena Tate — primary (person)
• Jason Anavitarte — primary (person)
• Jeff Mullis — primary (person)
• Jennifer Jordan — primary (person)
• John Albers — primary (person)
• John Kennedy — primary (person)
• Kay Kirkpatrick — primary (person)
• Kim Jackson — primary (person)
• Lee Anderson — primary (person)
• Lester Jackson — primary (person)
• Lindsey Tippins — primary (person)
• Marty Harbin — primary (person)
• Matt Brass — primary (person)
• Max Burns — primary (person)
• Michael 'Doc' Rhett — primary (person)
• Michelle Au — primary (person)
• Mike Dugan — primary (person)
• Nan Orrock — primary (person)
• Nikki Merritt — primary (person)
• Randy Robertson — primary (person)
• Russ Goodman — primary (person)
• Sheikh Rahman — primary (person)
• Sonya Halpern — primary (person)
• Steve Gooch — primary (person)
• Valencia Seay — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2022-01-26 Senate Hopper
• 2022-01-27 Senate Read and Referred referral-committee
• 2022-02-17 Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute committee-passage-favorable
• 2022-02-22 Senate Read Second Time reading-2
• 2022-02-24 Senate Third Read reading-3
• 2022-02-24 Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute passage
• 2022-02-28 House First Readers reading-1
• 2022-03-01 House Second Readers reading-2
• 2022-03-25 House Committee Favorably Reported committee-passage-favorable
• 2022-03-29 House Third Readers reading-3
• 2022-03-29 House Passed/Adopted passage
• 2022-04-07 Senate Sent to Governor executive-receipt
• 2022-04-29 Senate Date Signed by Governor executive-signature
• 2022-04-29 Act 726 executive-signature
• 2022-07-01 Effective Date

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/837b928a-249d-4790-afbf-6e7acada8c3f. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).