Governor Kemp visits this Columbus school to sign bills promoting workforce development

Jordan Vocational High School hosted Gov. Brian Kemp Thursday as he was in Columbus signing a series of bills promoting workforce development and economic opportunity.

Kemp was joined by First Lady Marty Kemp, members of the General Assembly and local leaders in the school’s mechatronics lab.

Using the public school as a backdrop to sign legislation prioritizing workforce development, scholarships and economic opportunity was a callback to earlier in the Republican governor’s administration.

“It is an honor to do some bill signing at the first College and Career Academy grant recipient of my administration,” Kemp said. “We’re also proud to be still investing in this program.”

Jordan was founded in 1906 as an experiment becoming the first school in the nation to combine vocational and academic courses in a public school system, according to the school’s website.

“I think when you look at the history of Jordan, its roots, how important that is in terms of career in technical education and how it’s evolved over time — it only makes sense that he would want to come to Jordan to sign workforce legislation here in person,” said David Lewis, Muscogee County School District superintendent.

Legislation promoting Georgia’s workforce

Kemp signed eight bills while he was in Columbus.

• HB 982 directs the State Workforce Development Board to create a designated state’s high demand career list to eliminate confusion among stakeholders, educators and agencies.

• HB 970 changes the funding structure for the REACH scholarship so for every $10k scholarship, $9k will come from the state and $1k from the school. The bill also adds victims of human trafficking as a qualified group for the scholarship.

• SB 440 simplifies the accelerated career pathway and allows participating students to receive dual enrollment funding for more than 30 credit hours.

• SB 497 increases the number of allowed apprenticeships under the High Demand Apprenticeship Program and directs the Technical College System of Georgia to create a pilot Public Service Apprenticeship Program.

• SB 384 creates the State of Georgia as a Model Employer Programs to assist state agencies with recruitment, hiring and retention of qualified individuals with disabilities.

• SB 354 removes the licensure requirement to provide the services of “blow-dry styling,” washing hair or applying makeup.

• SB 373 requires the Board of Marriage and Family Therapists to issue an expedited license by endorsement to any individual moving from another state that has a current valid license to practice in that state and is in good standing.

• SB 195 makes Georgia the third state to join the Social Work Licensing Compact. This will facilitate interstate practice of social work services once seven states have joined.

Although the bills Kemp signed did not make major changes to legislation, they are still important to Georgia residents, state Rep. Debbie Buckner (D-District 137) told the Ledger-Enquirer.

“These are what I call infrastructure bills,” Buckner said. “Many times we will pass a big, comprehensive major change to a whole program, then we find out there needs to be some changes to make it run more smoothly.”

The best example of this is HB 970, she said, which helps victims of human trafficking qualify for the REACH scholarship.

These individuals may have been forced to commit crimes in the past, she said. So, not only do victims have to recover physically and emotionally, but they may also have to contend with a criminal record or under-education.

“I think this REACH gives them an opportunity to build momentum to say ‘I’ve got an opportunity. If I can just stick with this,’” Buckner said. “(They’d) have something past high school to really build a future.”

Nine different pieces of legislation have now been passed raising awareness on human trafficking, Kemp said, and stiffening penalties on the perpetrators. No one fights harder for these victims than the First Lady Marty Kemp, the GRACE Commission and members of the General Assembly, he said.

“(I would) just let them know we’re fighting for them,” Kemp said.