2012 Legislation
2012 Legislative Session
Here is a list of legislation that may have an impact on the children and families in your county.
Healthy Children
HB 13
(Rep. Ben Watson, 163rd) would require insurance policies to cover any “medical food” required for the treatment of metabolic and genetic disorders when a physician prescribes special dietary foods or formulas that are medically necessary.
Status: Assigned to House Insurance.
HB 23
(Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, 83rd), also known as the Foster Children's Psychotropic Medication Monitoring Act, was introduced in 2011. This bill requires the Department of Human Services (DHS) to create procedures to ensure that the psychotropic medication administered to children in foster care is appropriate, delivered with informed consent of the parent and the child—if the child is age 14 or older, and is monitored for side effects and continued efficacy.
Status: Assigned to House Health & Human Services.
HB 345
(Rep. Pat Gardner, 57th) allows lawfully admitted and qualified children and pregnant women to be eligible for Medicaid and PeachCare programs.
Status: Assigned to House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee.
HB 655
(Rep. Ron Stephens, 164th) would create a provider choice system for the Dept. of Community Health’s Vaccines for Children program. The bill allows health care providers to select alternative vaccines from vaccines are approved by the Centers for Disease Control.
Status: Assigned to House Health & Human Services.
HB 745
(Rep. Andrew Welch, 110th) requires the Department of Public Health to study whether pulse oximetry screening should be a standard test for all newborns for detection of congenital heart defects.
Status: Passed House March 5. Assigned to Senate Health & Human Services.
HB 845
(Rep. Ben Watson, 163rd) requires early care and education programs to provide information on the influenza vaccine each year to every child by Sept. 1. The required information discusses the causes, risks, and symptoms of influenza and the availability, effectiveness, and known contraindications of the vaccine. Failure to do this will not subject any program to civil or criminal liability.
Status: Passed House Feb. 28. Passed Senate March 21. Sent to governor for signature.
HB 879
(Rep. Matt Ramsey, 72nd) requires the Depts. of Education and Public Health, the Georgia Board of Nursing and the Georgia Medical Board to develop guidelines for training school employees in the recognition of diabetic emergencies and the care of students with diabetes.
Status: Passed the House Feb. 23. Passed the Senate March 22. Differences between the House & Senate versions must be resolved.
HB 1061
(Rep. Edward Lindsey, 54th) requires individual and group health insurance policies to cover hearing aids for children.
Status: Assigned to House Insurance.
HB 1166
(Rep. Alex Atwood, 179th) provides for individual health insurance coverage to children through child-only health plans.
Status: Passed the House March 5. Passed Senate Insurance and Labor March13. Passed the Senate March 26.
SR 480
(Sen. Steve Henson, 41st) urges local school systems to stock school vending machines with healthy choices.
Status: Assigned to Senate Education and Youth.
School Readiness and Success
HB 181
(Rep. Rich Golick, 34th) allows the State Board of Education to waive “prior year in Georgia school” as a requirement for a special needs scholarship.
Status: Currently in the Senate Education and Youth Committee.
HB 659
(Rep Joe Wilkerson, 52nd) amends current law on hazing to add “athletic team” and states that any person convicted of hazing shall not be eligible to enroll in or attend any school or college in the state.
Status: Assigned to House Education.
HB 662
(Rep. Judy Manning, 32nd) requires that an Individual Education Program (IEP) developed for a blind or visually impaired student include provision for instruction in Braille.
Status: Assigned to House Education.
HB 713
(Rep. Randy Nix, 69th) delays implementation of some career and college readiness initiatives until the 2013-14 school year.
Status: Passed House; passed Senate March 14
HB 797
(Rep. Jan Jones, 46th), the enabling legislation to HR 1162, calls for a vote on a constitutional amendment regarding charter schools. HB 797 revises funding for state chartered special schools, and will become effective only if HR 1162 passes and gets a majority vote in a statewide referendum.
Status: Passed the Senate March 26.
HB 807
(Rep. Rashad Taylor, 55th) raises the age of mandatory education to 17.
Status: Assigned to House Education.
HB 843
(Rep. Stephanie Benfield, 85th) provides for a farm to school program within the Department of Agriculture to work with the Department of Education to promote the sale of Georgia-grown farm products to county and independent school districts.
Status: Assigned to Agriculture and Consumer Affairs.
HB 856 (Rep. Sandra Scott, 76th) requires parents of designated chronic disciplinary students and those returning from expulsion to work with the school to create a correction plan.
Status: Assigned to House Education.
HB 874
(Rep. Barbara Reece, 11th) requires that local boards of education report bullying incidents annually to the Department of Education as a category of student discipline data, and that the principal and local school council work on strategies to prevent bullying.
Status: Assigned to House Education.
HB 992
(Rep. Yasmin Neal, 78th) changes the age for mandatory school attendance from 6 to 16 to 6 to 18.
Status: Assigned to House Education.
HB 1061
(Rep. Edward Lindsey, 54th) requires individual and group health insurance policies to cover hearing aids for children.
Status: Assigned to House Insurance.
HR 1162
(Rep. Jan Jones, 46th) calls for a constitutional amendment that gives the Georgia General Assembly, or some yet unnamed authority, the ability to authorize charter schools, given under current Georgia law to local school boards. Local school boards will have to assign local funds for students enrolled in these state-approved schools.
Status: Passed House Feb.22. Passed Senate March 19. Enabling legislation HB 797 (Rep. Jan Jones, 46th) passed the Senate March 26.
SB 14
(Sen. Lester Jackson, 2nd) raises the age of mandatory education from 16 to 17. Similar bills include SB 43 (Sen. Donzella James, 35th ) and SB 49 (Sen. John Albers, 56th)
Status: All bills assigned to Senate Education & Youth Committee. SB 49 was favorably reported by the Senate Education & Youth Committee but did not reach the Senate floor for a vote and was recommitted to the Committee.
SB 49
(Sen. John Albers, 56th) raises the age of mandatory education from 16 to 16 and a half.
Status: SB 49 was favorably reported by the Senate Education & Youth Committee in 2011 but did not reach the Senate floor for a vote. Voted “Do Pass” by Senate Education & Youth on Jan. 26, 2012.
SB 68
(Sen. John Albers, 56th) permits parents to petition to turn around low-achieving schools.
Status: Assigned to Senate Children and Youth.
SB 87
(Sen. Chip Rogers, 21st) allows students from military families and foster care to be eligible for Special Needs Scholarships (vouchers).
Status: Assigned to Senate Education and Youth.
SB 291
(Sen. Jack Hill, 4th) changes the Pre-K funding source from the Georgia Lottery to funds appropriated for that purpose and prioritized by the Georgia Department of Education. Enrollment slots would remain fixed at FY 2013 state budget levels.SB 291 allows the State Board of Education to increase enrollment levels when the Georgia General Assembly makes additional funding available to expand the Pre-K program.
Status: Assigned to Senate Education and Youth.
Three bills that would make significant changes to the HOPE scholarship have been introduced:
SB 334
(Sen. Freddie Powell Sims, 12th) amends the Zell Miller HOPE Scholarship by removing the required grade point average and SAT scores and awards it to those in the top 3% of their graduating class.
Status: Assigned to Senate Higher Education.
SB 335
(Sen. Jason Carter, 42nd) eliminates the G.P.A. requirement for students who receive HOPE grants to attend Georgia’s technical colleges and universities.
Status: Assigned to Senate Higher Education.
SB 336
(Sen. Jason Carter. 42nd) creates a maximum household income cap requirement, determined annually by the Georgia Student Finance Commission, for eligibility for the HOPE scholarship. This family income cap does not apply to students who qualify for the Zell Miller Scholarship.
Status: Assigned to Senate Higher Education.
SR 480
(Sen. Steve Henson, 41st) urges local school systems to stock school vending machines with healthy choices.
Status: Passed Senate Education & Youth Feb.9.
Self-Sufficient Families and Strong Communities
HB 23
(Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, 83rd) helps Georgia comply with mandates of the Fostering Connections Act of 2008. The bill requires the Department of Human Services (DHS) to establish regulations for the use of psychotropic medications for children in the state’s custody.
Status: Assigned to House Health & Human Services
HB 432
(Rep. Katie Dempsey, 13th) entitled the Family Care Act, allows families employed by firms with 10 or more workers to use earned sick leave to care for a child, spouse, or parent.
Status: Assigned to House Industrial Relations. HB 432 was heard by the Committee but no vote was taken.
HB 633
(Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, 83rd) creates a state-wide reporting system for child abuse as well as a toll free number and Internet-based system.
Status: Assigned to House Judiciary.
HB 641
(Rep. Wendell Willard, 49th) is the comprehensive Juvenile Code rewrite.
Status: Passed the House by a unanimous vote Feb. 29. Passed Senate Judiciary March 22.
HB 668
(Rep. Jason Spencer, 180th) requires drug testing for all TANF applicants at their own expense. A parent’s positive test result would not affect the eligibility of their children, as an alternate payee would be identified.
Status: Assigned to House Judiciary. Will be discussed in the Lane Subcommittee Feb.15.
HB 697, 698, 699
(Rep. Ron Stephens, 164th) requires recipients of unemployment benefits, state-administered federal public assistance and state public assistance to submit to random drug testing. The recipient is required to pay for the drug testing.
Status: Assigned to House Judiciary.
HB 676
(Rep. Ben Harbin, 118th) eliminates the statute of limitations on sexual crimes committed against a child under the age of 16. This means charges can be prosecuted at any time, no matter how long ago the alleged crime was committed.
Status: Assigned to House Non-Civil Judiciary Committee.
HB 861
(Rep. Michael Harden, 28th) requires drug testing of TANF applicants and random drug testing of TANF recipients. HB 861 was amended to postpone the effective date until July 1, 2013.
Status: Passed the Senate March 7. Assigned to House Health & Human Services.
HR 1151
(Rep. Buzz Brockway, 101st) creates a 13 member Joint Human Trafficking Study Commission. The Commission is to study what is done for rehabilitation of victims in other states and report back by December 2012.
Status: Passed House Feb.7; passed Senate Health & Human Services March 14.
SB 105
(Sen. Emanuel Jones, 10th) similar in intent to HB 373 (Rep. B.J. Pak, 102nd), outlines the provision of parole, aftercare services and supervision, and calls for the creation of juvenile parole panels to determine which juveniles serving sentences for designated felonies could be recommended for release and community follow-up services.
Status: Assigned to Senate Judiciary.
SB 127
(Sen. Bill Hamrick, 30th) significantly amends and updates laws related to juvenile proceedings. The Barton Child Law and Policy Center, Voices for Georgia’s Children and Georgia Appleseed are leading efforts to update the 40-year old Georgia Juvenile Code. During the last days of the 2011 session, Rep. Wendell Willard (49th) introduced HB 641, the House version of the Juvenile Code re-write.
Status: SB 127 is assigned to Senate Judiciary and HB 641 to House Judiciary.
SB 292
(Sen. John Albers, 56th) requires adult applicants for Medicaid and/or TANF to pay for a drug test and get reimbursed from their first month’s benefits if the test is negative and they qualify otherwise.
Status: Passed the Senate, but is not yet assigned to a House committee.
SB 312
(Sen. William Ligon, Jr., 3rd) requires people receiving food stamps or TANF to engage in “personal growth activity” unless they are working 40 hours per week. Personal growth activities are defined as working towards a GED diploma, pursuing technical education, or enrolling in personal development or literacy classes.
Status: Passed the Senate March 7, but is not yet assigned to a House committee.
SB 316
(Sen. Charlie Bethel, 54th) extends the statute of limitations to 20 years for prosecution of certain crimes against children, including rape, child molestation and incest.
Status:A substitute version extending the statute of limitations for shorter periods of time passed the Senate on Feb. 23. Assigned to House Judiciary.
SB 341
(Sen. Lester Jackson, 2nd) would increase maximum sentences from 30 to 90 days detention for juveniles charged with crimes that would be a designated felony if they were adults.
Status: Assigned to Senate Judiciary.
SB 355
(Sen. Renee Unterman, 45th) extends the legal duty to report suspected child abuse to all individuals who have reasonable cause to believe child abuse has occurred or is occurring. Current Georgia law requires child abuse reporting by those persons responsible for the child’s care and protection.
Status: Passed Senate March 5. Assigned to House Judiciary.
SB 447
(Sen. Millar, 40th) cuts unemployment insurance from a maximum of 26 weeks to a sliding scale of 12 to 20 weeks as soon as the governor signs the bill, and requires a one-week waiting period before receiving unemployment benefits effective July 1, 2012.
Status: Passed Senate; assigned to the House Industrial Relations Committee.
SB 493
(Sen. Barry Loudermilk, 52nd) authorizes 18-20 year olds to carry concealed firearms in public, including some campus locations, public parks and recreation areas, and other locations. Requires four hours of training and range practice.
Status: Passed Senate March 7. Not yet assigned to House committee.
Pre-filed Legislation
Legislators have the option of prefiling bills that they intend to introduce. Bills may be prefiled any time on or after November 15. These bills are assigned a bill number, but the author must introduce the legislation on a legislative day for it to be considered. Some prefiled bills are never introduced.
HB 668
(Rep. Jason Spencer, 180th) and SB 292 (Sen. John Albers, 56th) require drug testing of all TANF applicants in order to qualify for benefits.
HB 676
(Rep. Ben Harbin, 118th) removes the statute of limitations on child sex abuse charges. Current Georgia law requires that charges be brought forward within seven years of the alleged incident of child sexual abuse.
SB 294
(Sen. John Albers. 56th) entitled the Dignity for the Unemployed Act requires 24 hours of volunteer service per week with a non profit organization for applicants to qualify for unemployment benefits.
