Last week the House and Senate Appropriations Committees convened jointly to review Governor Kemp’s recommendations for FY 2021 Amended and FY 2022 Budgets. The State's Health and Human Services needs were reviewed on Day 3 of Budget Hearings. State agencies have taken advantage of the additional federal funds that Georgia has received through an enhanced FMAP rate (the state fund matching rate for services matched with federal funds — such as Medicaid). While no new budget cuts were introduced, the governor's proposal would underfund state government in FY 2022 by approximately $1.2 billion below the state's pre-pandemic budget. Adjusted for inflation, the state would spend about $100 less per state resident. Below you will find a brief overview of the budget hearings, as well as a current status of legislative bills in consideration. Tuesday, January 26, 2020 will mark Day 5 of the legislative session.

Dr. Kathleen Toomey announced that 2 million Georgians are eligible to receive the vaccine, and that 451K have received it to date. She also provided dashboard to show vaccine allocation and administration.

Richard Woods presented to Joint Appropriations Committee on Dept. of Education budget proposals. Focuses of which include compassion over compliance during the pandemic to keep students, teachers, staff, and family safe; address learning loss ; expand connectivity; and address mental and physical health. Rusk Roam, Department of Education CFO, announced GA public schools have 36K fewer students, leading to Quality Basic Education (QBE) reduction of $166 mil in FY22.

Timothy Ward, Dept. of Corrections Commissioner, gave budget presentation. This covered support for increased healthcare costs this year, work to expand mental health services and utilize programs and services on site to improve response to mental health crises, required mental health training for all faculty, and virtual court hearings.

Tyrone Oliver, Department of Juvenile Justice, expressed budged proposal which addresses #1 issue of pay and benefits to support officers. Chief Justice Harold Melton and Supreme Court Justice Mike Boggs on budget needs for Supreme Court and Judicial Council.

Commissioner Robyn Crittenden kicked off the morning with an overview of the work of the Department of Human Services. She outlined budget requests for the department as well. Division of Family and Children’s Services Director Tom Rawlings presented his Division’s budget to lawmakers.

Commissioner Frank Berry, along with CFO Lisa Walker, discussed the Department of Community Health’s proposed spending plans.

Blake Fulenwider, Medicaid Chief, discussed the state’s implementation of the Georgia Pathways (Patients’ First Act) and the two waivers (1115 approved October 15, 2020 and 1332 approved November 30, 2020).

Commissioner Judy Fitzgerald presented Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities budget.

See Champions of Mental Health Issue 19 for a breakdown of this budget.

There was movement on a handful of bills on Thursday, January 14th, 2021. For a full list of bills we are tracking and their current status, download our legislative update below.

Wednesday, January 20th, 2021 House Speaker David Ralston announces the committee chair and leadership assignments for the current Session. See below a list of membership assignments, chair assignments, and specific details on the Health and Human Services Committee. Additionally, the House Appropriations Subcommittees have begun meeting.

View recent changes made to Georgia Senate Committee chairs here.

GEEARS (Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students) is hosting a virtual advocacy training for families with infants or toddlers (ages 0-3) across Georgia on Saturday, January 23rd or Thursday, January 28th.

AFSP State Capitol Day is hosting a virtual event on Friday February 5, 12pm-1pm to advocate for state policy changes that will improve mental health and prevent suicide. Advocates will have an opportunity to meet with legislators

Join the Georgia Recovery Community for this historic ARAD. The 2021 ARAD Official Session is your opportunity to hear from recovery leaders and state leaders on those issues important to the Georgia Recovery Community. You will learn how to speak up for recovery, about the issues impacting recovery, and learn how to be a positive and powerful voice for recovery. Breakout sessions including workshops on topics such as Art, Yoga, Faith, Film, Food and many others. Register for the opening session and following breakout sessions below.

Georgia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities' Helping the Helping Professional Webinar Series provides webinar support to frontline statewide behavioral health, medical, public health, and education professionals to assist with decreasing indirect trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic. To register for the eight (8) available click the link below.

It is time to register for the Paint & Prevent Virtual Event: Paint Your New Year hosted by DBHDD Office of Behavioral Health Prevention and Federal Grants and the Georgia State Opioid Response! This event is an opportunity for youth of all ages to have the chance to be creative through virtual paint instruction and learn key substance use prevention information.

Mental Health America of Georgia hosted a series of virtual town halls to inform and advocate for Georgia’s communities impacted by mental health conditions. The town halls offered information and recommendations on the political determinants of Mental Health and Wellness. Each town hall topic discussed the intersection of mental health in the community and policy recommendations to improve mental health outcomes in specific population groups. Please review our past town halls to become more informed of the impacts in our communities.

The outgoing Administration eliminated the X waiver requirement for physicians and expanded access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) by exempting physicians from certain certification requirements needed to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment. The outgoing Administration, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), also announced new flexibilities (Request for Applications, Fact Sheet) that will allow Medicare Part D plans that participate in the third year of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s (CMMI) Part D Payment Modernization (PDM) Model to limit the drugs they cover. Specifically, they provide flexibility for participating Part D sponsors to remove protections for five of the six protected classes (anticonvulsants, immunosuppressants, antidepressants, antipsychotics, and antineoplastics).

The incoming Administration has provided an outline of its $1.9 Trillion COVID Relief Package. The behavioral health community was pleased to see that the plan included $4 Billion dollars to HRSA and SAMHSA for mental health and addiction needs and $350 Billion for state and local governments. The proposal also calls for an expansion of 100,000 public health workers to work in local communities on activities such as contract tracing and COVID testing and then transition to public health roles. This may provide opportunities for peer support. This article in the Nonprofit Times summarizes the implications for non-profit organizations in general. It should be noted that this plan is the incoming administration’s requests, but they may have difficulty getting through the Senate, which will soon be a 50-50 split with Vice President Harris able to cast the tie vote. 

Last week, MHA and its affiliate, Vibrant Emotional Health released a new Frequently Asked Questions document on the 9-8-8 mental health hotline and crisis response to help advocates to understand the changes and advocate now in their states for adequate resources. For further information and assistance with state advocacy, please contact Debbie Plotnick at dplotnick@mhanational.org. Vibrant has also produced a new short document that advocates can use to educate stakeholders about 988 and the need for crisis services.  

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) released a new legislative framework for how the Committee will address the role that racism, ableism, and other social, structural, and political determinants have in perpetuating health and economic inequity in the United States. The framework is placed into context in a Democratic Committee staff-prepared report that examines the history and intersection of federal policy and inequities in the United States.

For free and confidential emotional support or resource information as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, call or text 866-399-8938.