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As uncertainty swirls around key health policy issues in Washington, Georgia lawmakers will return to the Gold Dome on Monday to plan next year’s budget and consider public health proposals that died on the vine last year.
The Georgia General Assembly’s main task will be deciding how to allocate state funds for the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends on June 30, and for fiscal 2027. This summer, Gov. Brian Kemp instructed state agencies to maintain current spending levels as part of “conservative fiscal management.” But that could be complicated by potential cuts to funds for health and other social service programs in Congress.
Here are three public health issues Healthbeat will be watching during this year’s session.
Georgia public health funding uncertain as federal budget in limbo
Each year, the state legislature takes up two budget bills. The “small budget” makes tweaks to the current year’s budget, while the “big budget” lays out the budget for the next fiscal year, which starts in July.
This year, Georgia’s “big budget” that would start on July 1 could be complicated by federal funding cuts to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state Department of Public Health receives about half of its nearly $940 million in funding from the federal government, much of it via the CDC.
If there are cuts to Georgia’s federal funds, “we will have to look at our budget and look for funds to put and fill holes,” said Rep. Darlene Taylor, the Thomasville Republican who chairs the state House’s appropriations health subcommittee.
For example, most of the state’s funding for HIV prevention work (nearly $26 million) comes from the CDC, with only $1.1 million coming from state funds for work providing pre-exposure prophylaxis drugs in Georgia, according to DPH spokesperson Nancy Nydam Shirek.
The federal budget is under negotiation in Washington, and it’s not clear when Congress will pass the spending plan and what it will include.
Taylor said she wants to make sure the state Department of Public Health and county health departments have the funds needed to do important educational work on topics ranging from diabetes to the harms of smoking. Still, she said, it will be hard to plan the state’s budget until more is known about the federal budget.
“I’m concerned about it. We are all watching it, and I’m sure the right decisions will be made when it comes to making sure that our people of Georgia have access to health care,” Taylor said.
Licensing for community health workers
A bill to establish licenses for community health workers got close to crossing the finish line last year but ultimately failed to get a needed floor vote in the state Senate.
Taylor, who sponsored the bill, said she plans to push for its approval this year.
Community health workers are similar to health care navigators and, increasingly, employed by health systems in Georgia, among other organizations. CHWs are not medical professionals but typically have close ties to the communities they serve, either because they live in those communities, come from similar cultural or linguistic backgrounds, or have experience with particular diseases like diabetes or cancer.
Georgia has training programs for community health workers. The bill would regulate standards for training and certification, overseen by the state DPH.
Certification could help pave the way for CHWs to be paid by the state Medicaid program and other health insurers. The hope is that CHWs could help Georgians stay on track in managing health conditions like diabetes or asthma and more easily navigate a complex health care system.
Helping people in recovery – especially nurses
Recovery advocates want to see Georgia join 44 other states in creating an “alternative to discipline” program to help nurses who are struggling with addiction.
Currently, nurses must undergo what many consider a “punitive” and public system before the state nursing board if they admit to seeking help with substance abuse. Georgia differs from most other states, which employ a more layered system that allows nurses a way to seek help without jeopardizing their licenses – typically called an “alternative to discipline” system.
The hope is that the recovery-focused alternative would allow nurses to get help sooner without fear of losing their right to practice – and their livelihoods. Nurses in recovery told Healthbeat the current system deterred them from getting help for alcohol or drug addiction even when they wanted it because they knew they would face disciplinary measures that could stop them from working.
A bill to establish the alternative system in Georgia failed to get a Senate floor vote last year after it was passed unanimously by the House. Rep. Ron Stephens, a Savannah Republican who sponsored the bill, said the legislative clock ran out, but he hopes it will get early Senate approval this year. The legislation will be taken up by the Senate when the session opens next week.
Recovery advocates also want to see the legislature implement uniform regulations for recovery residences, often called halfway houses, to ensure quality, said Laurisa Guerrero, executive director of the Georgia Council for Recovery.
A bill to do that failed to pass last year, but a study committee met to look more closely at the issue during the legislative “off season” and recommended creating licenses and quality measures for these residences that would be administered by the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.
