GERALD GREENE: Legislature stays busy as ‘sine die’ approaches

The end of session is quickly approaching, and we will reach Legislative Day 40, also known as “sine die,” on Wednesday.

I am excited to announce that the Georgia House of Representatives passed legislation this week to help support women with high-risk pregnancies, particularly in underserved communities, in an effort to address infant and maternal mortality. Senate Bill 106, or the “Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Act,” would create a Medicaid program to provide virtual maternal health clinical services to women with high-risk pregnancies through the Georgia Department of Public Health’s pilot home visiting program.

We gave unanimous final passage to Senate legislation this week to ensure that Georgia businesses do their part to help spread awareness and stop human trafficking. Senate Bill 42 would revise the penalty for certain businesses that fail to post required signage about the human trafficking hotline, which handles tips about potential sex and labor trafficking and reports such incidents to law enforcement. To report suspected human trafficking in Georgia, you can call the statewide 24-hour hotline at (866) 363-4842.

The House also passed a bipartisan Senate measure to support Georgians as they rebuild their lives after prison. Senate Bill 218 would allow state identification cards to be issued to inmates after they have completed a term of incarceration. Providing this necessary documentation and identification would enable Georgians to gain employment and start to rebuild their lives after incarceration. The House also unanimously passed Senate Bill 93 to prohibit the use of certain foreign-owned social media platforms on state-owned devices. Gov. Kemp and other proponents of this legislation aim to prevent TikTok from accessing critical, private information or collecting data about our state government’s operations.

My colleagues and I also approved legislation on the House floor that would amend Georgia’s “Surprise Billing Consumer Protection Act,” which was a House-led initiative in 2020 aimed at increasing affordable, quality health care options for Georgians. Senate Bill 20, or the “Consumer Access to Contracted Healthcare Act,” would update this law to require insurers to contract with and maintain a sufficient and appropriate number of participating network providers, including primary and specialty care, pharmacies, clinical laboratories and facilities.

Furthermore, if a network plan offers coverage for mental health or substance use disorders, the insurance company would also need to maintain contracts with a range of providers that specialize in mental health or substance abuse services.

The House also passed Senate Bill 86 to expand access to the HOPE grant program to high school students who are already preparing themselves to join our state’s work force by earning college credit before graduation. SB 86 would allow eligible dual enrollment students to access HOPE grant funds for eligible career, technical and agricultural education courses, regardless of whether a student has reached the maximum credit-hour cap to receive these funds.

We passed Senate Bill 26, or the Georgia Electric Vehicle Future Act, to advance the electric vehicle industry in the state. This legislation would authorize the Georgia Department of Economic Development to establish and support a statewide electric vehicle manufacturing program, which would focus its efforts on developing, marketing and promoting investments and job creation for Georgia’s EV industry.

The Georgia Electric Vehicle Future Act would promote public-private partnerships to develop forward-looking EV solutions, support this job-producing industry and strengthen Georgia’s position in EV manufacturing and innovation. We also gave final passage to Senate Bill 61 to permanently allow Georgia’s private sector workers to continue to utilize their paid sick leave to care for a family member in need.

The General Assembly will convene for two legislative days this week before the 2023 legislative session adjourns on Wednesday. I urge you to contact me if you have any questions, concerns or input on any measures being considered in the House or Senate. I can be reached at my Capitol office at (404) 656-9210 or at [email protected].

As always, thank you for allowing me to serve as your state representative.

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