The final hours of Legislative Day 28 were filled with substantial legislative action as Crossover Day concluded with tense discussions on the House floor. Although the Senate finished their calendar early in the evening after passing a number of education and child welfare bills, the House stayed late into the night to narrowly pass a slew of contested bills, including a revision of Georgia’s hate crime statute and an abortion ban backed by Governor Brian Kemp. Then, legislators returned today to gavel in and gavel out for Legislative Day 29. Details on the closing hours of Crossover Day and a look ahead to next week in today’s #GoldDomeReport.
In this Report:
-
House Passes Hate Crime and Abortion Legislation; Votes Down Surprise Billing
-
Late Bills of Note in House on Crossover Day
-
Late Bills of Note in Senate on Crossover Day
-
New Legislation
-
Rules Calendars for Legislative Day 30
House Passes Hate Crime and Abortion Legislation; Votes Down Surprise Billing
All eyes centered on the House late last night as legislators debated three of the most consequential propositions of the legislative session.
First, House members considered HB 426, Rep. Chuck Efstration’s (R-Dacula) bill updating Georgia’s hate crime statute. The bill specifically provides for enhanced penalties for individuals who intentionally commit crimes against a person because of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, mental disability, or physical disability. Specifically, it imposes a minimum three-month prison sentence for misdemeanors, six-month prison sentence for high and aggravated misdemeanors, and two-year prison sentence for felonies. Legislators on both sides of the aisle spoke in favor of the proposition and paid homage to Rep. Efstration for carrying the bill and former Rep. Dan Ponder Jr., who propelled Georgia’s original hate crime bill through the General Assembly nineteen years ago and was present for the vote last night. After evading a motion to table, the House voted to approve the bill by a 96-64 vote.
Immediately following, the House took up HB 481, Rep. Ed Setzler’s (R-Acworth) proposition that would ban abortions after an unborn child is determined to have a heartbeat. Dubbed the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, the bill includes exceptions for when, in reasonable medical judgment, the abortion is necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman or avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest in which an official police report has been filed. The bill also provides that all natural persons at any state of development, including an unborn child at any stage of development who is carried in the womb, shall be included in state population based determinations. Rep. Setzler presented the bill as several female members of the body silently stood and turned their back to the well, prompting Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) to remind members of the House Rule requiring respect to fellow members. Other Republican members spoke in favor of the proposition, with the exception of Rep. Deborah Silcox (R-Sandy Springs), who, in emotional remarks, voiced her opposition. Dissent from Democrats was sharp and impassioned and, in at least one case, directed at specific members of the body that voted to pass the bill out of committee (which drew rebuke for violation of House Rules, again). After closing with a frank and graphic call to action by Rep. Setzler and separate attempts to adjourn and table the bill by Minority Leader Bob Trammell (R-Luthersville), the House voted 93-73 to advance the measure. A subsequent motion to reconsider failed.
In the wake, the House took up a handful of other bills that likely received only shallow consideration. Among them were HB 84, Rep. Richard Smith’s consumer protection bill for healthcare consumers. The bill would have required providers to disclose participation agreements, affiliated hospitals, costs of services, and affiliated providers to patients upon request. The bill also required hospitals to publish standard charges for DRGs, in-network health care plans, and providers with which they have contracted and insurers to provide enrollees with a variety of information regarding care access, out-of-network services, and claims processes. However, when the question was called, only 155 members were present and voting, and the bill failed to receive a constitutional majority to pass on to the Senate. The final vote was 77-78.
Late Bills of Note in House on Crossover Day
The House took up the following other notable propositions on Crossover Day after our deadline:
-
HB 454 -- Amends Title 40 to allow motorized mobility devices to be used in bicycle lanes. This bill PASSED the House 133-28 and moves on to the Senate
-
HB 459 -- Relates to school bus drivers in Chapter 2 of Title 20 and proposes to provide for a driver's license verification system for such drivers. It would require that local boards of education participate which employs such individuals. The local systems would be required to submit to the Department of Public Safety the driver's full name and license number and update such list at least twice within each calendar year. If a school bus driver has his or her privileges suspended, revoked or cancelled, then the local board of education is to suspend or revoke the authorization given to such person to drive a school bus and inform such driver of the reason for the suspension or revocation. This bill PASSED the House 159-11 and moves on to the Senate.
-
HB 483 -- The annual update to Georgia's dangerous drug list in Chapter 13 of Title 16. In part, it adds epidiolex (a drug which is FDA approved and contains cannabidiol derived from cannabis and contains no more than .1 percent tetrahydrocannabinols). This bill PASSED the House 161-2.
-
HB 514 -- Amends Title 37 to create the Georgia Mental Health Reform and Innovation Commission. This bill PASSED the House 152-10.
-
HB 527 -- Amends Title 20 to change program weights for funding purposes in the QBE funding formula. The changes are as follows: Kindergarten: Increase to 1.6724 from 1.6508. Kindergarten early intervention: Increase to 2.0678 from 2.0348 Primary grades (1-3):Increase to 1.2948 from 1.2849 Primary grades early intervention (1-3): Increase to 1.8180 from 1.7931 Upper elementary (4-5): Increase to 1.0390 from 1.0355 Upper elementary early intervention (4-5): Increase to 1.8125 from 1.7867 Middle school (6-8): Increase to 1.1380 from 1.1310 High School General Education (9-12): No change Career, Technical, and agriculture laboratory (9-12): Decrease to 1.1830 from 1.1916 Persons with disabilities Category I: Increase to 2.4118 from 2.3798 Persons with disabilities Category II: Increase to 2.8402 from 2.7883 Persons with disabilities Category III: Increase to 3.6188 from 3.5493 Persons with disabilities Category IV: Increase to 5.8710 from 5.7509 Persons with disabilities Category V: Increase to 2.4737 from 2.4511 Intellectually gifted students Category VI: Increase to 1.6794 from 1.6589 Remedial education: Increase to 1.3576 from 1.3087 Alternative education: Increase to 1.4881 from 1.4711 ESOL: Increase to 2.5892 from 2.5049. This bill PASSED the House 170-0 and moves on to the Senate.
-
HB 530 -- Amends Title 20 to prohibit a parent or guardian from removing their child from public school for the purpose of avoiding mandatory attendance, school discipline, parental involvement, or parental responsibilities for the care and control of a child. This bill PASSED the House 135-28 and moves on to the Senate.
-
HB 543 -- Amends Title 19 to set forth the process by which a court by adjudicate an individual to be an equitable caregiver. This bill PASSED the House 142-15 and moves on to the Senate.
Late Bills of Note in Senate on Crossover Day
The Senate took up the following notable propositions on Crossover Day after our deadline:
-
SB 167 -- Amends Title 15 to provide that after six months of searching for fictive kin by DFCS, if no such kin can be found, the child will remain in the foster home in which they had been placed. This bill PASSED the Senate 55-0 and moves on to the House.
-
SB 195 -- Addresses Title 33 in an effort to provide for consumer protections and freedom of information relating to prescription drug benefits in health policies. The purpose is to provide consistency and clarity in the disclosure of prescription drug formularies so as to allow consumers make informed decisions relating to their healthcare. The proposal applies to all licensed insurance carriers which provide accident and sickness products (individual, group or blanket); TPAs, and pharmacy benefit managers. It requires that an insurer and PBM provide no later than October 1, 2019 on a public website maintained by the insurer or PBM formulary information. It also requires a direct electronic link to the formulary information on the website home page of insurers and PBMs. there are also requirements for the insurer and PBMs to update their formulary information and formulary disclosure requirements within seven days of any change, alteration, modification of amendment to the formulary. It also makes requirements for a Uniform Prior Authorization Form. It also empowers the Commissioner of the Department of Insurance to appoint a committee to be known as the Advisory Committee on Uniform Prior Authorization and it would recommend to the Commissioner the standard form for requesting prior authorization of prescription drug benefits. This bill PASSED the Senate 56-0 and moves on to the House.
-
SB 209 -- Eliminates the star rating for financial efficiency for schools and school systems. This bill was TABLED in the Senate.
-
SB 219 -- Requires that high school students correctly answer 60% of the questions on the United States Citizenship Civics Test in order to graduate. This bill PASSED the Senate 49-0 and moves on to the House.
-
SB 222 -- Creates the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform. This bill PASSED the Senate 53-0 and moves on to the House.
-
SB 225 -- Amends Title 15 to bring its provisions in conformity with the federal Social Security Act and the Family First Prevention Services Act. The bill also exempts proceedings relating to termination of parental rights subject to the Indian Child Welfare Act from state law and requires that children being discharged from foster care at age 18 be discharged with proof that he or she was previously in foster care. This bill PASSED the Senate 51-0 and moves on to the House.
New Legislation
The following legislation was introduced in the House today:
-
HB 586, authored by Rep. Chuck Efstration (R-Dacula), amends Title 31 to provide for the disposal of unused prescribed controlled substances for hospice patients by hospice staff. This bill was referred to the House Health and Human Services Committee.
Rules Calendars for Legislative Day 30
The House has not set a Rules Calendar for Monday, Legislative Day 30, and the Rules Committee is not scheduled to meet at this time.
The Senate will take up the following propositions on Monday for Legislative Day 30:
-
SR 266 -- Georgia High School Association; assessment of its operations and practices; encourage
-
HB 166 -- Genetic Counselors Act; enact
-
HR 165 -- Property; conveyance of certain state owned real property; authorize
