State Rep. Jesse Petrea

Columnist

Georgia has offered the Public Safety Memorial Grant (PSMG) to children of fallen or permanently disabled public servants since the early 1990s. This outstanding program is funded by state appropriations and public donations. If you donated to the children of officers killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty when you renewed your license at the Department of Drivers Services, you supported this grant.

The Public Safety Memorial Grant has proven to be a lifeline to hundreds of students over the last 30 years. As it was originally designed, the PSMG program did not include spouses, was only available to full-time students and did not contemplate the unthinkable horrors at Apalachee High School. When our heroes pay the ultimate price in service to our community, their families should not have to worry about how they will pay for college.

That’s why I introduced House Bill 56. HB 56 enhances the Public Safety Memorial Grant program by expanding eligibility to the spouses of law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics and prison guards. Moreover, it allows part time student eligibility. Further, HB 56 expands eligibility to teachers and public-school employees killed or permanently disabled by an act of violence in the line of duty. The goal was to ensure that a stay-at-home parent suddenly needing to support a family had the financial support of the grant along with the flexibility to study at their own pace. Thankfully, we were able to pass these improvements through SB 20 on the last day of the 2025 session.

In addition to changing the law and creating resources for families, it’s important to make sure the families this grant was created for know about it. I hope this article will help more eligible families hear about the opportunity to receive up to $18,000 a year, $72,000 in a lifetime, to study any field, graduate or undergraduate program, at any of Georgia’s 81 HOPE-eligible university system and technical institutions. Dependent children have up to 10 years after they graduate high school to apply for the new Public Service Memorial Grant. Spouses have up to 10 years after the qualifying tragic event to apply, and there is no GPA requirement.

PSMG applications are managed by the Georgia Student Finance Commission. The application is available at gafutures.org.

I appreciate the support of my colleagues in the General Assembly and Gov. Kemp for improving upon this very important support to the families of Georgia heroes.

Representative Jesse Petrea represents the citizens of District 166, which includes portions of Bryan and Chatham counties. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2014 and currently serves as Chairman of the Human Relations and Aging Committee and as Secretary of the Games, Fish and Parks Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations, Appropriations Subcommittee on Health, Health, Industry and Labor, Natural Resources and Environment and Public Safety and Homeland Security committees, as well as the Special Committee on Healthcare.