Moving forward, vol. 10, no. 14 (2005 April 11)

Moving Forward Volume 10, Issue 14 April 11 2005
SINE DIE! The House finished its business at the stroke of Midnight March 31. It was technically the 39th day. This is the last issue of Moving Forward for the 2005 legislative session. ********************************************Noteworthy legislation: See Details below: HB 85: 2006 Fiscal Year State Budget HB 244: The "photo I.D. bill." HR 633: Children's Initiative SB 35: Education funding and flexibility SB 174: Healthcare mandates
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 This is the first year of a 2 year session. Bills that are still active are marked "held over." 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 Agrees to House Substitution or Amendment, Waiting Action by the Governor 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: Senate Agrees to House Amendment or Substitution; Waiting Action by the Governor 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; and other purposes. Sponsors: Moody, Weber, Johnson, Williams, Thomas. Status: Senate Agreed to House Amendment or Substitution; Waiting Action by the Governor SB 35: Delays class size reductions for two years, loosens restrictions on Charter Schools. Sponsors: Moody, Carter, Stephens,

Star, Hill, Rodgers; Status: Senate Agrees to House Amendment or Substitution; Waiting Action by the Governor SR 78: Urging the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to approve the waivers requested by Georgia to further expand Georgia's 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: House Passed/Adopted; Waiting Action by the Governor 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: House Committee Favorably Reported, Held Over for Next Year SB 174: Ga. Consumer Choice Benefits Health Insurance Plan Act; authorizes issuers to offer a choice of benefits health insurance plan in addition to other health insurance plans. Sponsors: Staton, Seabaugh, Hudgens, Hill, Johnson, & Golden. Status: Senate Agrees to House Amendment or Substitution; Waiting Action by the Governor 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: House Committee Favorably Reported; Held Over for Next Year

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: House Passed/ Adopted; Waiting Action by the Governor
House 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: House Agrees to Senate Amendment or Substitution; Waiting Action by the Governor 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; Held Over for Next Year. HR 217: Long term or self-directed care initiative, urge Medicare and Medicaid to approve waiver requests; urges federal Medicaid and Medicare programs to approve waivers requested by Georgia to expand its self-directed care initiative. Sponsors: Gardner, Ashe, Manning. Status: House Second Readers; Held over for Next Year.

HB 244: The "photo I.D. bill." House agreed to Senate changes, one of which would allow expired license as valid form of ID. Status: Senate Conference Committee Report Adopted; Waiting Action by the Governor. 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 Agrees to Senate Amendment of Substitute; Waiting Action by the Governor. HR 414: Missing disabled adults, alert system; urges local law enforcement agencies, government authorities, and broadcasters to coordinate to create am alter system for disabled adults. Sponsors: Stanley-Turner. Status: House Second Readers; Held Over for Next Year. HR 512: House Community Living Services Study Committee; creates a House Community Services Study Committee. Sponsors: Watson, Stephenson, Mosby, Williams, Mangham, & Jacobs. Status: House Passed/ Adopted HR 518: House Study Committee on Children: Newborns to Age Five; creates a House Study Committee on Children from newborns to age five. Sponsors: Manning, Byrd, Talton, Neal, Sinkfield, & May. Status: House Passed/ Adopted HR 633: Oversight Committee for Planning for Home sna Communitybased services: Would urge DHR, DCH, DOE, DOL and DJJ to cooperate

on a plan to identify, assess, and plan community services for the more than 150 children who are currently living in institutional settings. The plan would be due to the Speaker July 1, 2006, and by July 2008, request dedicated funding for the transition of children that would not compete with the funding for the adult waiting list. It would also establish an oversight committee to keep the process on track. Sponsors: Manning, Talton, Graves, Parsons, Ashe. Status: House Passed/ Adopted HB 643: Long Term Care Partnership Program; establishes Georgia Long Term Care Partnership Program, provides for definitions, provides for administration of the program, and defines certain duties and responsibilities. Sponsors: Sheldon, Cooper, Keen, Knox, & Murphy. Status: Senate Passed/ Adopted; Waiting Action by the Governor HB 669: Open Meetings, etc. This bill includes the language from SB 91. To provide for the establishment of a state-wide telecommunication system capable of providing audible universal information access services to blind and print disabled citizens; to authorize the Public Service Commission to contract for the administration and operation of such system. Sponsor: Martin. Status: House agreed to Senate amend/sub. Budget Overview Fiscal Year 2006 Budget: All figures are final. CC: refers to conference committee final budget language. 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 (Senate: Use transfer of TANF funds to supplant state funds) (CC: Use SSBG block grant.)
Convert 166 consumers from state-supported developmental disability services to Medicaid eligible waiver services ($915,832) Increase medical management of enrollees in the MRWP and CHSS waivers to reduce Medicaid service expenditures. (CC: Implement a pilot utilization review process for 4,000 individuals with developmental disabilities. This system will identify needs and match individual needs to provider service capacity.) ($2,400,000) Use Transfers from TANF to Social Services Block Grant to provide for services to developmentally disabled individuals. (CC: For needy families under 200% of poverty)

$3,487,988 Transfer funds from the DCH and provide additional funding ($1,500,000) for children with behavioral disorders and developmental delays (Senate: Marcus Center to receive $1.65 million and Matthew Reardon Center $350,000) $2,000,000
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 ($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 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 Add 46 additional ICWP slots. $1,042,759
Implement disease and case management process to improve medical management for aged, blind, and disabled populations. (CC: 100,000 disease management model.) ($23,262,935)
Transfer 79 nursing home clients from nursing homes who are able to function in the community to the DHR CCSP program. (House: move 21 consumers to the SOURCE program) ($752,945) To explore the feasibility of engaging an Administrative Services Organization in coordination with DHR and DCH to use Georgia's SOURCE model to perform data collection and analysis, produce profiles of providers and consumers, oonduct concurrent review of hospital and pharmacy utilization and to target opportunities for cost reduction and appropriate use of health care resources and to direct related care management to selected SSI Aged, Blind and Disabled Medicaid

beneficiaries currently on a waiver or foster children added to the current SOURCE enrollees. SOURCE may provide training to any current case management provider and all consumer participation must be voluntary. YES, no funds To move 5,000 high cost aged, blind, disabled enrollees into Enhanced Primary Care Case Management, SOURCE. (CC: move 1,000 ABD enrollees into SOURCE) no funds attached To increase medical management of enrollees in the ICWP, MRWP, CHSS, and Deeming Waiver to reduce Medicaid expenditures: (CC: Implement a utilization review process for ICWP members ($2,000,000)
To require DCH to notify the legislature regarding projected savings before implementation of CMO's (CC: YES) To pursue a pilot for consumer driven health care for Medicaid populations YES
DOE FY06 Provide 2% increase to state base salary for teachers eff ective 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 Increase funding for National Board Certification to provide 10% bonus for teachers earning national certification $635,000 3% reduction to RESA [funds restored] 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, GCDD/Public Policy. Moving Forward is published by the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities.
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