Moving forward, vol. 10, no. 10 (2005 March 4)

Moving Forward March 4, 2005
Budget News... The FY'06 budget was passed out of House Appropriations Committee on March 3rd. The House Committee recommended restoring several items of importance to disability advocates. See the complete budget update below. The budget will go to the full House Friday, March 4th for a vote. The Legislature will be in recess Monday, March 7th through Wednesday March 9th. Thursday, March 10th will be the 29th legislative day.
Contact Information Questions for House Members: 404-656-5082 Questions for Senate Members: 404-656-0028 General Mailing Address Information: Representative or Senator (Last Name) Georgia House of Representatives or Georgia Senate State Capitol Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Legislation Tracker You may view any bill in its entirety at: http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2003_04/leg/legislation.htm Senate SB 6: Exchange of National Criminal History Background Checks: to authorize the exchange of national criminal history background checks

on providers of care to children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, including, but not limited to, volunteers with youth sports organizations and other youth activities. Sponsors: Stoner and Rogers. Status: Senate Read Second Time SB 17: Establish the Georgia Long Term Care Partnership Program: to provide that certain assets of persons not be considered when certain determinations concerning eligibility for Medicaid assistance are made. Sponsors: Golden. Status: Senate Prefile SB 23: Establish Dekalb County Commission on Disability: to bring about full inclusion of all DeKalb County residents, whether disabled or not disabled, into all aspects of community life in DeKalb County through collaborative partnership among residents, local government, nonprofit organizations, and other entities and through strategic management, education, advocacy, training, research, and improved service delivery. Sponsors: Butler, Henson, Weber, Miles, Thompson, Adelman. Status: Read & Referred SB 33: Authorize the establishment of the Georgia Virtual School; to provide for rules and regulations; to provide for a Georgia Virtual School grant account, and others. Sponsors: Moody, Douglas, Balfour, Hooks, Bulloch. Status: House Passed; Senate Agrees to House Amendment or Substitution SB 34: Provide for the establishment of the "Georgia Master Teacher Program"; to provide for the establishment of criteria for Master Teacher Certification; to provide for the establishment of rules and regulations by the Professional Standards Commission; to provide for the establishment of the "Academic Coach Program"; to provide for the establishment of rules and regulations by the State Board of Education; to provide for the employment of an academic coach by a

public school in accordance with a school improvement plan; to provide for monetary and other incentives for academic coaches; to provide for the establishment of a Master Teacher and Academic Coach Implementation Committee. Sponsors: Moody, Weber, Johnson, Williams, Thomas. Status: Passed House, Senate Agreed to House Amendment or Substitution SB 35: To amend Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary and secondary education, so as to provide for the revision of certain provisions regarding education flexibility; to change certain provisions relating to expenditure controls for the 2005-2006 school year; to change certain provisions regarding program weights; to amend Code Section 40-5-22, relating to school attendence and driver's licenses; and other matters. Sponsors: Moody, Carter, Stephens,Starr, Hill, Rogers. Status: Senate Passed, House Second Readers SB 78: Related to dental hygienists, so as to provide for additional exception to the requirement of direct supervision of a dental hygienist in certain settings. Sponsor: Williams. Status: Senate Read and Referred SR 78: Urging the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to approve the waivers requested by Georgia to further expand Georgias self-directed care initiative; and for other purposes. Sponsors: Williams, Staton, Johnson, Moody. Status: Senate Passed and Adopted. SB 81: Patient Access to Eye Care; relates to insurance and blindness education, screening and treatment program. Sponsors: Hudgens, Carter, Kemp, Grant, Meyer von Bremen. Statue: Senate Read Second Time.

SB 91: Physically Impaired, Audible Access; establishes a state-wide telecommunication system capable of providing audible universal information to blind and print disabled citizens. Sponsors: Adelman & Williams. Status: Senate Read Second Time SB 174: Ga. Consumer Choice Benefits Health Insurance Plan Act.; authorizes to offer a choice of benefits to a health insurance plan and provides definitions. Sponsors: Cecil, Golden, Seabaugh. Status: Senate Committee Favorably Reported SB 208: Central Registry for Traumatic Brian/ Spinal Injuries; creates a state-wide registry for traumatic brain/spinal injuries and requires that information be reported to the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund Commission. Sponsors: Meyer von Bremen, Stephens, Thomas, Hooks & Carter. Status: Senate Committee Favorably Reported, Senate Read Second Time SB 248: Rehabilitation Services; delivery to deaf and blind individuals; relates to the transfer of the Division of Rehabilitation Services to Department of Labor to provide services to deaf-blind individuals by an organization knowledgeable on deaf-blind issues, provide for a time frame to retain services and training on services. Sponsors: Thomas. Status: Senate Read and Referred. SB 265: Parking Spaces for the Disabled; private enforcement of law; private citizens may help enforce the law by taking pictures of an person without a sticker parking in a handicapped space and forward them to the law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over that space. Sponsors: Utterman, Grant & Balfour. Status: Senate Read and Referred. SB 266: Persons with Disabilities; taxicab companies; accessible for motorized wheelchairs; states that taxicab companies must have a

certain number of taxicabs that are accessible to persons in motorized wheelchairs. Sponsors: Utterman, Grant, & Balfour. Status: Senate Read and Referred. SB 267: Disabled persons; parking permits; provide annual renewal, requires that person with the disability be the operator or the passenger in the vehicle when permit is being used. Sponsors: Utterman, Grant, Balfour, &Bulloch. Status: Senate Read and Referred.
House HB 35: Provide for the Community Service Board Overview Commission; to provide for such commissions organization, vacancies, duties, powers, and expenditures; to provide for the appointment, qualifications, terms, compensation, allowances, and expenses of members; to provide for commission assistance, staffing, and services; to provide for community service board cooperation; to provide for reports; to provide for legal enforcement. Sponsor: Mitchell. Status: House Second Readers HB 50: Exchange of National Criminal History Background Checks: to authorize the exchange of national criminal history background checks on providers of care to children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, including, but not limited to, volunteers with youth sports organizations and other youth activities. Sponsor: Teilhut. Status: Senate Read and Referred HB 83: Small Business Employee Choice of Benefits Health Insurance Plan Act; provides that insures must offer certain employees and consumers a choice between Small Business Employee Choice of Benefits Health Insurance Plan hospitalization policies and contracts not

subject to state mandated health benefits. Sponsors: Lunsford, Harbin, Lord, Burmeister, Keen, Know. Status: House Committee Favorably Reported. HB 105: Provide for accurate and complete electronic format versions of certain textbooks; supplying copies of electronic text versions to local boards of education; authorize local boards of education to provide electronic versions of textbooks to schools and students; provide for payment; provide for construction; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. Status: House Second Readers HB 133: Establish the Georgia Long Term Care Partnership Program; to provide a short title; provide definitions; to provide for the administration of the program; to provide for certain duties and responsibilities; to provide that certain assets of persons not be considered when certain determinations concerning eligibility for Medicaid assistance are made; to provide for criteria for asset disregard; to provide for reciprocal agreements with other states; to authorize the Department of Community Health and the Commissioner of Insurance to promulgate certain rules and regulations; to provide for certain contingencies; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. Status: House Second Readers HB 142: Change certain provisions relating to voluntary separation, abandonment, or driving off of spouse; to create a duty to provide child support for a mentally or physically disabled child beyond the age of majority; to provide for postmajority child support in final verdict or divorce decree; to provide that a childs eligibility to receive public benefits shall not be impacted by an award of postmajority child support; to change certain provisions relating to

inclusion of life insurance in order of support; to change certain provisions relating to parents obligations to child; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. Status: House Second Readers HB 206: To define and provide for a new category of facilities to be designated as "assisted living facilities" and to include "assisted living facilities - Level I" and "assisted living facilities - Level II" within such category; to amend Code relating to respite care for mentally retarded persons, so as to revise certain terms; to change various statutory references to "personal care homes" so that they refer to "assisted living facilities" Sponsors: Walker, Brown, Lane and Burns. Status: Senate Read and Referred
HB 252: To amend the Code relating to the effectiveness of educational programs, so as to provide that a student who does not achieve a passing score on the high school graduation test may be eligible to graduate under certain conditions. Sponsor: Williams. Status: House Second Readers HB 288: Orthotics and prosthetics practice; To change certain provisions relating to supervision of assistants and technicians. Sponsors: Parsons, Wilkinson, Graves, & Wix. Status: House Committee Favorably Reported HB 394: Disabled adults and elder persons; protective services; discharge and transfer from facilities; so as to revise a definition; to revise certain provisions relating to investigation of reports of need for protective services relating to involuntary transfer of residents discharged from a facility and return to facility after transfer, so as to revise the notification provisions; to provide for

related matters. Sponsors: Walker, Willard, & O'Neal. Status: House Committee Favorably Reported HB 421: Student violence against teacher, remain in classroom at discretion of teacher; seeks to end the requirement that teachers continue to teach students that have attacked them physically. Sponsor: Ehrhart. Status: House Second Readers HB: 424: Bianca Walton Anti Bullying Act; requires local school boards to have a definition of bullying, provide policies relating to bullying behavior, personnel training on bullying behavior, and to require schools to report information on bullying behavior to the DOE. Sponsor: Hughley and Watson. Status: House Second Readers HB 500 Guardians of Adults To amend provisions and definitions of public guardians. Provides a new chapter relating to public guardians, provides a definition, an oath of guardianship, qualifications and other requirements Sponsors: Walker, O"Neal, Willard, Cooper, & Brown. Status: House Second Readers.
Budget Overview Fiscal Year 2006 Budget: Changes made are in bold. DHR FY06 Olmstead - Fund 925 MR/DD slots to Unlock the Waiting Lists. (Total funds: $8,302,823) $3,284,597 Fund an increase to MR/DD provider rates of 3% beginning Jan. 1, 2006. (House subcommittee approved a 4.5% increase to all MR/DD provider rates for all waiver services including residential and provide a rate adjustment to all MR/DD residential providers of $3,492 annually) $7,498,321

Reduce room and board payments to MR/DD providers. ($5,196,173) [Note: The compromise referred to above would use all the room and board funds in the division of MHDDAD to fund the rate adjustment and increase] Provide state funds to replace lost federal social service block grant funds that are used to serve developmental disabled consumers. $4,514,508
Convert 166 consumers from state-supported developmental disability services to Medicaid eligible waiver services ($915,832)
Fund 2 ORS surveyors to support increased mental retardation/developmental disabilities waiver slots $130,000
Eliminate 2 special purpose contracts in the Home and Community-based services program (funds restored) $6,250
Reduce funds for East Central Regional Hospital by moving 30 consumers with developmental disabilities into the community, and relocate 62 consumers with developmental disabilities to Gracewood Campus ($3,517,885)

(This reduction also includes some transfer of forensic beds to Central State) Reduce personal service and technical assistance to community collaboratives in the Family Connection Program ($200,000 restored) ($76,077)
Fund services to additional 600 elderly clients on the non-Medicaid home and community based waiting list $799,630
Fund an additional 200 slots in the CCSP program $899,153 Capital outlay: Authorize $2,395,000 in 20 year bonds to replace roofs at Gracewood State Hospital $208,000 debt service Transfer funds from the Department of Community Health for 79 individuals who desire to move from nursing homes into the community (Total Funds: $1,704,538) $653,557
DCH FY06 In the DCH budget, require families that earn over $100,000, who are served by the Katie Beckett Program, to pay a $200 per month premium. No Provide funds to eliminate Katie Beckett premiums $270,000 Set a fixed cap for the home and community based services provided by

the ICWP for disability services to redirect savings NO To add 46 additional ICWP slots. $1,042,759
Implement disease and case management process to improve medical management for aged, blind, and disabled populations. ($9,500,000)(MR/DD population has been carved out)
Transfer 79 nursing home clients from nursing homes who are able to function in the community to the DHR CCSP program. ($752,945) To move 5,000 high cost aged, blind, disabled enrollees into Enhanced Primary Care Case Management, SOURCE: ($11,832,000) To increase medical management of enrollees in the ICWP, MRWP, CHSS, and Deeming Waiver: ($14,210,232) To require DCH to notify the legislature regarding projected savings before implementation of CMO's YES To pursue a pilot for consumer driven health care for Medicaid populations YES
DOE FY06 Provide 2% salary increase for teachers eff. Sept 1, 2005 $105,768,823 3% reduction to Communities in Schools project

[funds restored]
Provide funds to adjust for actual enrollment for the Severely Emotionally Disturbed network $4,913,593 Provide funds, 3 positions for development of Georgia Virtual High School Project $1,385,000 Create science mentoring program to assist teachers in lowest performing schools $2,000,000 Fund Master Teacher Program $800,000 DOL FY06 Reduce special purpose contracts ($34,l355) [funds restored](The Centers for Independent Living) The DD Council cut of $721 was restored in the DHR budget.
For current advocacy alerts, fact sheets and other information regarding the waiting lists go to www.unlockthewaitinglists.com, or the DD Council Website at www.gcdd.org and then click on GCDD/Public Policy. Moving Forward is published by the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities as a public information source.
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