Two Northwest Georgia legislators are trying to force the Georgia High School Association, which oversees the state’s high school athletics, to release details about its finances.CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. – High school athletics and high-level politics are about to collide in Georgia, and if lawmakers have their way, big-time change could be coming to the Georgia High School Association and its members.
Two bills sponsored by northwest Georgia senators, both waiting house approval, would force the GHSA to release financial reports annually, change the way membership within the association’s various committees and boards is handled and give the Georgia General Assembly oversight over an organization funded by taxpayers.
“My interest is that their revenue stream is subsidized by taxpaper dollars, and because of that I think the public has the right to know where that money is going,” said Charlie Bethel of Dalton, who sponsored the first bill (288). “They don’t file tax returns because they’re nonprofit. They do provide a cursory financial statement that was basically a cash-flow statement, which is not as complete as what we want.
“We just believe they should be transparent because there are public tax dollars involved.”
Bill 343, sponsored by Chickamauga’s Jeff Mullis, has the potential to shake the GHSA to its core. The bill, which like Bethel’s passed unanimously in the senate, would require that GHSA trustees and executive committee members be employed by a school system or private school and that GHSA members be limited to four-year terms.