There are only 4 legislative days left of the session, which ends on Thursday, March 24th. Because 2016 is the second year of the biennial session, no bills will be held over to be heard next year. Any bill that gets introduced next year must start over from the beginning - even if the bill was already heard during this legislative session.
Budget HR 751 passed the full senate. It will now go into mediation between the House and Senate. This is done through a budget committee made up of 3 Senators and 3 Representatives.
The Fiscal Year 2017 General Budget is 23.7 Billion.
SB 271: Senator Burke
This bill brings up the difficult subject of involuntary hospitalization for people with mental illness. The bill outlines procedures for involuntary commitment; in particular, it establishes the requirement for a Committee for Continued Involuntary Treatment Review at each hospital. As described in the bill, this committee would consist of physicians and possibly psychologists. This is a medical model which does not take into account the knowledge and recommendations of people with lived experience. The bill also addresses the right of the individual to receive written notice of his/her right to petition for a writ of habeas corpus [legal action by which people can seek relief from involuntary detention]. Also included in the language of the bill would be a period, not to exceed one year, where a person could be ordered into involuntary treatment. The bill does not indicate specific times or procedures for any reviews during this period of time.
SB 271 was passed in the Senate and the House and is now awaiting the governor's signature.
SB 302: Senator Martin
This bill requires health carriers to maintain accurate provider directories that are easily accessible to the public. The bill details requirements that health carriers; post a provider directory on their website; provide a print copy of the provider directory upon request; update each network plan on the provider directory every 30 days; include a dedicated email and telephone number for the public to report confusing or inaccurate information listed in the provider directory; and conduct an annual review of the entire provider directory, included following up with each listed provider to ensure that the information is accurate and complete. Additionally, the bill specifies that if a covered person sought services based on inaccurate or misleading information contained in the provider directory, the Commissioner may require the health carrier to reimburse the person for any amount beyond what he or she would have paid for an in-network provider.
The bill passed out of the Senate by substitute on February 25th and passed out of committee in the House as of March 10th.
SR 974: Senator Unterman
This resolution was introduced on February 11th to create the Surprise Billing Practices Study Committee, in order to examine surprise medical bills from out of network providers.
SR 1056: Senator Rhett
This resolution would create a study committee on the Premium Assistance Program, an alternative to Medicaid expansion that assists individuals to purchase health insurance through private group plans.
SR1165: Senator Miller
This resolution was introduced on March 10th to create a study committee on Opioid Abuse.
HB 498: Representative Hawkins
This bill would provide Licensed Professional Counselors with the legal authority to diagnose mental health conditions, provided that they have graduate level education, training, and supervised experience, or its equivalency, working with people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, or substance use.
The bill passed the House by substitute on February 26th and is now in the Senate.
HB 722: Representative Peake
This bill addresses the ongoing legislative conversation surrounding medical use of cannabis products in the state of Georgia. This legislation would increase who would be covered under the category of medical necessity, as well as the legal percentage of THC permitted in medical products. The bill is inclusive of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, among other specified conditions.
This bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, and received multiple hearings. HB 722 passed the House on February 29th and is now in committee in the Senate. The bill continues to face challenges, leaving doubt as to passage in this session.
HB 768: Representative Hawkins
This bill establishes the Georgia Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) program. The bill creates a qualified ABLE program in the state of Georgia that will allow individuals to create tax-exempt savings accounts to pay for the qualified expenses of eligible individuals with disabilities. Any person can make contributions to the account, including the beneficiary, family, and/or friends. Mental Health America of Georgia would like to ensure that this bill is inclusive of people with mental illness, as in the federal ABLE legislation.
This bill passed the House with Bipartisan support. It passed out of the Senate Finance committee on March 9th and will now be considered by the Senate Rules committee.
HB 859: Representative Jaspers
This bill authorizes the carrying and possession of handguns by weapons carry license holders in public institutions of postsecondary education.
This bill has passed the House floor and the Senate as of March 11th. The vote was 37 yes, 17 no, one excused and one no vote. You can read how your Senator voted by going on the www.legis.ga.gov
web site. Please pay particular attention to the senators who voted no. You may want to drop them an e-mail to say thank you. Below you will also find talking points about suicide, guns and colleges, pointing out the correlation between campus suicide and access to lethal means, like firearms. The only way to now stop this dangerous bill is through the Governor's office. Take a minute and e-mail the Governor and share the data collected on the talking point page. Also, you might drop a note to the paper in your area and share this frightening demographic about college students and suicide.
It is so difficult to know all the work people across Georgia are doing to prevent these tragic deaths and then listen to this debate. The Governor can STOP this bill by a simple VETO.
GUNS, SUICIDE AND COLLEGE CAMPUSES
According to Emory University:
- Fifty four percent of completed suicides are by firearms.
- There are more than 1000 suicides on college campuses every year.
- One in ten college students have made a plan for suicide
- Approximately 5.2 percent of Emory students have seriously considered suicide within the past 12 months, and .9 percent of Emory students have made an attempt in the past 12 months.
- Suicidal thoughts, making plans for suicide, and suicide attempts are higher among young adults age 18 to 25 than among adults over the age of 26.
- Lifetime thoughts of attempting suicide are reported to occur among 5 percent of graduate students and 18 percent of undergraduates.
- Groups that are particularly at risk for ideation and attempt are male, white, and under the age of 21
- In the 20 to 24 age range, there is an 80 percent chance of death from a suicide using a firearm - access to lethal means increases risk of death by suicide
Research has demonstrated a correlation between policies that PROHIBIT firearms on campus and decreased campus suicide rates
Risk factors specific to college students include:
- New environment
- Loss of social network
- Loss of safety net found at home
- Pressure academically or socially
- Isolation and alienation
- Lack of coping skills
- Difficulty of adjusting to new demands of college life
- Decreased academic performance and subsequent feelings of failure
- Experimentation with drugs and alcohol
- Unwillingness to seek help
- Access to lethal means
As you have been following these legislative Advocacy Updates, you can see that many of the bills we have been reporting on are no longer moving through this session, as they did not cross chambers by the 30th day of the legislative session. These bills would need to be reintroduced next legislative session and would have to start the process again.
