House committee hears bill to codify statewide workforce plan, designate GOSA lead coordinator

Representative Gamble presented the Education Workforce Strategy Act, House Bill 13-02, saying the legislation would formalize work already underway to align K–12, higher education and workforce agencies.

"This legislation does this by designating the Governor's Office of Student Achievement, GOSA, as the lead coordinator to bring together all of the agencies that have participated in the governor's workforce strategy team," the presenter said, describing the bill as largely coordination and cleanup rather than new programs. The bill would codify a unified state workforce plan that incorporates federal WIOA and Perkins plans and would set the plan’s update cycle to match federal plans.

The presenter said the bill also designates the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) as the state apprenticeship agency, a change staff described as giving the state more oversight and visibility into federally recognized apprenticeships. "The Federal Department of Labor ... asked to apply for this type of status," a TCSG representative said in committee, explaining the change would allow the state to see and coordinate apprenticeship offerings across regions.

Committee members asked about local flexibility and money. Representative Howard asked whether local school systems could identify local high-demand industries; the sponsor replied that the state-controlled high-demand career list is managed by the State Workforce Investment Board but local regions may provide feedback to have specific careers added. On funding, the sponsor said existing WIOA and Perkins flows to local systems would continue and that a one-time allocation of approximately $445,000—repurposed from the governor's school leadership academy—was included to build a career navigator tool to help students locate postsecondary and apprenticeship opportunities.

The presenter and technical college staff emphasized the bill would not displace existing high school work-based learning or apprenticeship programs: "These are federally recognized apprenticeships. This does not apply to your high school work based learning programs," the presenter said.

No formal action on HB 13-02 is recorded in the transcript; the committee moved on to other items and asked the sponsor to take questions offline as needed. The bill was presented as part of a broader package that sponsors described as the final piece of the governor's workforce development package.