For Moving Forward ARCHIVES Click "Past Issues" Return to Public Policy Home Page Volume 9, Issue 7 February 20, 2004 Moving Forward For Your Information... Disability Day at the Capitol is this Thursday, February 26, 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM! RSVP, agenda and directions at www.gcdd.org . Legislation Tracker This week, we list only the bills that have had action since our last edition to make room for the budget. View any bill in its entirety at www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2003_04/leg/legislation.htm HB 211: Assistance dogs; interfering with, assaulting, killing; penalties Summary: this bill would make it a felony for a person to assault, beat, harass, or injure guide dogs assisting persons with disabilities; interfering with assistance dog duties or attempting to do so shall be a misdemeanor; interfering with the use of an assistance dog with reckless disregard shall be a misdemeanor or a high and aggravated misdemeanor. Sponsors: Rice, Millar, Dix, Sholar, Jenkins Status: House passed; now in Senate Judiciary Committee HB 256: Industries for the Blind; manufactured products; purchase by state employs; exception Summary: Any state officer or employee may purchase products manufactured by the Georgia Industries for the Blind. Sponsors: Broome, Sholar, Skipper, Westmoreland, Drenner, Lunsford Status: House State Institutions and Property Comm HB 295: Education; deaf students; certification of interpreters Summary: relating to educational programs relative to quality basic education, this bill would require certification of personnel providing educational interpreting for hearing impaired students in local school systems or state operated school programs Sponsors: Butler, B. Smith, C. Thompson, Burmeister, Bordeaux Status: House Education Comm HB 316: Persons supervising children; criminal background checks; National Crime Information Center Summary: would authorize, but not require the exchange of national criminal history background checks (fingerprint checks of state and national criminal history files) with local government agencies designated to report, receive, or disseminate information under the National Child Protection Act and the Volunteers for Children Act. Sponsors: Stoner, Teilhet, Ralston, V. Hill, Coleman Status: Passed House, now in Senate Children and Youth Comm HB 357: Certain deaths; persons in compensated care; notify coroner Summary: to require notice of certain death to coroners of those in community living arrangements or other long term care facilities. Sponsor: Howard Status: House Human Relations and Aging Comm HB 363: Electronic Textbooks; make available to local boards, schools, and students Summary: The measure tightens-up language in previously passed legislation requiring textbook publishing companies to provide electronic versions of their products in Georgia. The new version would require textbook makers to provide complete and accurate electronic versions of all textbooks recommended by the State Board of Education after July 1, 2004. Sponsors: Fludd, Greene-Johnson, Marin, Floyd, Holmes Status: Passed House, now in Senate Education Comm HB 428: Intellectually Disabled Health and Fitness Program Fund; establish; special license plates. Summary: HR 428 plate legislation and HR 225 special purpose fund, 25% to DD Council to assist individuals moving from institutions to homes with one time moving expenses and household equipment. Sponsors: Borders, O'Neal, McBee, Jenkins, Stephens Status: House Motor Vehicles Comm HB 583: Students; certain acts of physical violence; disciplinary tribunal Summary: relating to the disciplinary policy for students committing acts of physical violence against a teacher, school bus driver, or other school official or employee, so as to change provisions relating to the authority of the disciplinary tribunal Sponsors: GreeneJohnson, Reece, Mangham, Thomas, Stephens Status: House Education Comm HB 613: Parking Permits; Certain Transporters of persons with disabilities Summary: to change the conditions under which a parking permit may be issued to an institution transporting one or more persons with disabilities Sponsor: T. Campbell Status: House Motor Vehicles Comm HB 701: Independence Plus Act; enact Summary: to provide for the establishment of a consumer or family directed care program Sponsors: Gardner, Manning, Childers Status: House Human Relations Comm HB 869: Reconfigures the system for charging and collecting fees from criminal and civil proceedings that have been used to fund the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund Commission. Sponsors: Coleman, Jenkins, Stephenson Status: House Special Judiciary Committee HB 931: Mentally retarded; habilitation; designated representatives; guardian ad litem Summary: to authorize persons designated as representatives of persons with mental retardation to provide certain consents to treatment, habilitation services, and behavioral interventions; to provide for appointment of a guardian ad litem for hearings. Sponsor: Gardner Status: House Judiciary Comm HB 1033: Assisted living facilities; Levels I and II; provisions Summary: See SB 422 Sponsors: L. Walker, Harrell, J. Brown Status: House Human Relations and Aging Comm Status: House Judiciary Comm HB 1055: Audible Universal Information Access Services, Blind and Print Disabled Citizens Summary: relating to the telephone system for the physically impaired, so as to provide for the establishment of a statewide telecommunication system capable of providing audible universal information access services to blind and print disabled citizens. Sponsors: Childers, Porter, Reece, E. Stephens, R. Stephens, Millar Status: Passed House, now in Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Comm HB 1125: Education; bullying by students; amend provision Summary: The measure will require that schools report bullying incidents to the state and set up policies for handling bullies. Students and parents would also be able to report bullies anonymously, and schools could punish anyone caught falsely reporting an incident. Sponsors: Hugley, V. Hill, Jordan, Dix, Buckner, Ashe Status: House passed, now in Senate Education Comm HB 1128: Community service boards; full-time employment of retirees; prohibit; exception Summary: to provide that no community service board shall employ any person who is receiving a retirement benefit from the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia Sponsors: B. Mitchell, R. Mangham Status: House Health and Human Services Committee HB 1129: Community Service Board Overview Commission; create Summary: to provide for legislative oversight of CSBs Sponsors: B. Mitchell, R. Mangham Status: House Health and Human Services Comm HB 1132: Starvation and Dehydration of Persons with Disabilities Prevention Act; enact Summary: to establish a presumption regarding life-sustaining procedures in health care decisions; to provide for exceptions to the health care presumption; to provide for civil remedies Sponsors: C. Rogers, J. White, Burmeister, J. Mills, Coan Status: House Judiciary Comm HB 1176: Disabled persons; redefine; temporary parking permits Summary: Blind persons would be added to the list of individuals allowed to park in disabled designated spaces. The permit would allow those who provide transportation for the person to utilize the special parking spaces while in the company of the permit holder. Sponsors: C. Martin, J. Jones, A. Powell, J. Chambers, F. Millar Status: House Passed, now in Senate Public Safety and Homeland Security Comm HB 1190: Education; amend provisions Summary: to provide for the revision of certain provisions regarding education flexibility and accountability; to change certain provisions regarding school councils; to change certain provisions regarding early intervention programs; to change certain provisions regarding budgeting, funding, and accounting Sponsors: O'Neal, B. Coleman, Burkhalter, Golick Status: House Education Comm HB 1208: Local boards of education and school councils; amend provisions Summary: relating to community involvement in education and the role of local boards of education and school councils, so as to change the provisions relating to school councils Sponsors: Buckner, Barnes, Parsons, Casas, Reece Status: Passed House, now in Senate Education Comm HB 1314: Guardians of incapcitated adults; amend provisions Summary: to change certain provisions relating to petition to sell or otherwise dispose of property by a guardian, service, and full return; to change certain provisions relating to appointment of a successor in the event of a guardians death and when a ward may call for an accounting; to change certain provisions relating to procedure for appointment of guardians of incapacitated adults Sponsors: Purcell, Houston, G. Greene Status: House Judiciary Comm HB 1381: Long-term care facilities; redefine abuse Summary: to change the definition of abuse to include physical, psychological, or emotional injury Sponsors: Harrell, H. Howard Status: House Human Relations Comm HB 1384: Income tax credits; individual development accounts; comprehensive regulation Summary: provides for the formation of IDA programs (Individual Development Accounts) through matching funds for IDA's through tax credits, and includes a provision for using IDA savings for assistive technology. Sponsors: Sinkfield, Jamieson, Manning, Marin, M. Thomas, Orrock Status: House Ways and Means Comm HB 1500: Medicaid; medications for certain disorders; prohibit restricting Summary: to prohibit the requirement of prior authorization or other restrictions on medications prescribed for patients receiving treatment for certain medical conditions under a Medicaid or any state funded health care program Sponsors: Henson, Benfield, Drenner, Buckner, Powell, Stanley-Turner Status: Industrial Relations Comm HR 225: Intellectually disabled health and fitness program; special plates Sponsors: Borders, O'Neal, McBee, Jenkins, R. Stephens Status: House Appropriations Comm HR 1307: Disabled persons; home and community based services; urge certain funding Summary: to support a multiyear funding commitment to unlock the waiting lists for home and community based services for people with developmental disabilities and physical disabilities and that this plan should address both the short and long-term planning lists Sponsors: Manning, Shaw, R. Stephens, Epps, T. Coleman, Buckner Status: House Health and Human Services Comm SB 50: Health Insurers; Consumer Choice of Benefits Health Plan Act. Summary: SB 50 is the "Georgia Consumer Choice of Benefits Health Insurance Plan Act." Proponents of this bill state that employers and individuals need to be able to buy group and individual health insurance plans that are more affordable and flexible and that there is a need to increase the availability of health insurance by authorizing plans that do not contain the state mandated health benefits. Some examples of the mandated health benefits include: coverage of services provided by psychologists, chiropractors, and optometrists; screenings for ovarian, cervical, colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer; 48 hour or 96 hour minimum hospital stays for birth of a baby; hospital stays after a mastectomy; and child wellness visits. Sponsors: Seabaugh, Golden, Price, Moody, Mullis, T. Williams Status: Senate Insurance and Labor Comm SB 111: Death Investigations; patients receiving compensated care in facilities licensed by DHR Summary: to provide that a coroner or county medical examiner conduct an investigation; to provide for penalties; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date Sponsors: Tanksley, Unterman Status: Senate Judiciary Comm SB 170: Long-term care services; in-home and community based care; consumer choice and control; Independence Plus Act Summary: for the establishment of a consumer or family directed care program; to provide for definitions; to provide for the roles and responsibilities of consumers, departments, and fiscal intermediaries; to provide for reimbursement for the cost of background screenings; to provide for review of the program and reports to the General Assembly; to require a plan to reduce the number of certain nursing home bed days; to require an evaluation of the cost effectiveness of the program. Sponsors: C. Jackson, N. Deal, Zamarripa, Gillis, Starr, R. Thomas Status: Senate Health and Human Services Comm SB 185: Natural Gas; discontinuing service to persons age 65 or disabled; prohibit during winter heating season Summary: a marketer shall be prohibited from discontinuing service to persons 65 years of age or older or to persons with physical or mental disabilities for nonpayment of bills during any winter heating season and the 30 days immediately following such winter heating season; a marketer shall file with the commission the price per therm to be charged to retail customers which price shall not be increased more than $.50 during any three-year period Sponsor: R. Thomas Status: Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Comm SB 301: License plates; special; parents of persons with disabilities Summary: permit children of disabled parents to obtain a specially designed disabled person's license plate. These special plates permit people to park in the specially designated disabled parking areas. The plate will be issued to only one child of a disabled parent. Sponsors: Levetan, Adelman, Unterman, Tate, C. Jackson, Fort Status: Passed Senate, now in House Motor Vehicles Comm SB 302: Handicapped parking; enforcement; change provisions Summary: change the provisions relating to persons who are authorized to enforce restrictions on parking for persons with disabilities Sponsors: Levetan, Adelman, Clay, Henson, Unterman, Tate Status: Senate Public Safety and Homeland Security Comm SB 315: Medicaid; managed health care; medically necessary health care pilot program Summary: to provide for one or more pilot programs to test and evaluate the implementation of a coordinated system of managed health care for recipients of medical assistance and PeachCare for Kids; to provide for program eligibility; to provide for program administration and contracts; to provide for an exemption from competitive bidding requirements; to provide for minimum qualifications for administrators participating in a pilot program; to provide for payment to participating administrators of a pilot program Sponsors: T. Price, D. Thomas, T. Williams, Unterman, Golden, Meyer von Bremen Status: Senate Health and Human Services SB 420: Disabled Adults/Elder Persons; illegal to discriminate complaints of abuse Summary: to provide that it is illegal to discriminate or retaliate against employees of longterm care facilities who make complaints or provide information on abuse in long-term care facilities. Sponsors: Unterman, E. Johnson, B. Stephens, Balfour, D. Thomas Status: Senate Health and Human Services Comm SB 422: Assisted Living Facilities; define and provide new category Summary: provide for a new category of facilities designated as "assisted living facilities," change provisions related to unfair or deceptive practices, special hazards to persons or property, health, respite care for persons with mental retardation, and DCH functions regardin medical assistance Sponsors: Unterman, E. Johnson, B. Stephens, Balfour, D. Thomas, Levetan Status: Senate Health and Human Services Committee SB 428: School attendance requirements; driver's license; change penalties Summary: To amend rules regarding compulsory attendance, to establish student attendance protocol committees, revise the definition of "disciplinary orders", to change provisions in the student code of conduct, to restrict access to a driver's license for students who do not remain in school or seek alternative ways of completing their high school education. Sponsors: D. Lee, Shafer, P. Smith, Brush Status: Senate passed, now in House Education Comm SB 429: Student Achievement, Office of education flexibility/accountability; revisions Summary: to revise provisions regarding school councils, early intervention programs, budgeting, funding and accounting, program weights, effectiveness assessment, organization of schools, legislative intent with respect to charter schools, and petitions to establish charter schools Sponsors: D. Lee, Shafer, P. Smith, Brush Status: Senate passed, now in House Education Comm. SR 461: Medicaid; Study Committee; create Summary: to study current policies and procedures of Medicaid and to develop statistics on utilization, costs, and expenses to enable the General Assembly to understand and determine appropriate levels of service and expenses of Medicaid Sponsors: Unterman, T. Williams, Price, D. Thomas Status: Passed Senate, now in House Motor Vehicles Comm SB 476: Student Code of Conduct; bullying behavior; incidents reported to Education Department Summary: to make certain changes relating to local school board policies regarding bullying in student codes of conduct; to provide for the definition of "bullying behavior"; to provide that policies relating to bullying behavior apply to students in kindergarten through grade 12; to require training on bullying behavior for certain school system personnel; to provide that local school systems provide information to the Department of Education on the number and disposition of bullying incidents reported Sponsors: Harbison, Stokes, Clay Status: Senate Education Comm SB 481: Rules of the Road; Parking Law for Persons with Disabilities; redefine terms Summary: to redefine certain terms Sponsors: J. Hill, N. Thomas Status: Senate Passed, now in House Human Relations Commttee SR 784: Human Resources, DCH; urge to take actions for people with certain disabilities Summary: to support a multiyear funding commitment to unlock the waiting lists for home and community based services for people with developmental disabilities and physical disabilities and that this plan should address both the short and long-term planning lists Sponsors: Zamarripa, Levetan, Moody, Kemp, Tolleson, Jackson Status: Senate Health and Human Services Comm Budget Update The Fiscal Year '04 Supplemental Budget passed the House Tuesday, February 17. The $16.2-billion spending plan is about $100 million higher than the budget originally proposed by Governor Sonny Perdue. As is the norm when considering such a massive spending proposal, there were a number of members who opposed certain aspects of the plan, according to The Daily Report from the House Information Office. The Report went on to say that many expressed disappointment that the House had agreed to the Governor's recommendation to trim $350,000 by instituting a sliding scale premium on the Katie Beckett Waiver Program, which helps pay for services for children with severe disabilities. A number of amendments were offered reflecting these concerns, but each was defeated. When the debate was finished, House lawmakers voted 102-68 to pass the budget as presented in HB 1180. It now goes to the Senate where it will most likely undergo many changes. This vote was merely the first step in a long process which usually is not completed until the session's final days. The following changes were made to items we have been tracking in the Department of Community Health, the Department of Human Resources and the Department of Education. Department of Community Health: Add-backs or Additional Cuts (money that was slated to be cut but was added back in, or new cuts proposed by House) $1,342,489 restored for Medicaid Adult Dental services $472,184 restored to the dispensing fee for generic drugs $280,000 to reduce the average wholesale price discount for prescriptions from 12% to 11% Implement Estate Recovery Program to offset the cost of nursing home care. Originally, $546,664 was to be cut, but the cut was increased. (970,725) DCH cuts in both Governor's and House Budgets: Reduce nursing home hospice care rate (134,234) Institute premiums for the Katie Beckett Program (354,608) Provide case management for in-home therapy visits (284,164) Require non-custodial parents with access to health insurance to cover their children currently insured by Medicaid (627,615) Eliminate the Health Care Workforce Policy Advisory Council (85,660) The budget keeps PeachCare intact, and adds $17,182,196 to cover the projected '04 claims, and allocates $498,230 to reflect the growth in PeachCare. $172 Million to pay Medicaid claims through March Department of Human Resources: Add-backs or new cuts proposed by House Reduction to reflect additional Federal funds in Department administration (750,000) $16,000 Restore to Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Powerline $150,000 Restore to High Risk Pregnant Women and infants program $1,250,000 Restore operating expenses and positions to Medical Surgical Hospital at Central State Hospital DHR Cuts in both Governor's and House budgets: Reduction in DHR contracts (862,322) Consolidating 13 transportation regions into 7 (250,000) Reduce Operating expenses for Long Term Care Ombudsman (21,187) Family Connection: reduce administrative, TA and grants to collaboratives (250,000) Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities (744) MHDDAD: adjust funds to reflect excess REVMAX earnings (1,826,126) Reduce contracts in Community Services (385,730) Department of Education: Add-backs Funds for development and training related to rollout of revised Quality Core Curriculum (300,000) DOE Cuts: No new cuts different from those originally proposed. Current Waiting Lists For Services Over 4,200 people are waiting for help, including: 3,973 Georgians with Mental Retardation or Developmental Disabilities 300 people with severe physical disabilities Over the past year, there has been a 27% increase in the number of people waiting for services. See http://www.gcdd.org/programs/unlock/index.htm for more information on the waiting lists. GENERAL INFORMATION Moving Forward is a publication of the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities e-Updates available at http://www.gcdd.org/publicpolicy/index.htm To receive Moving Forward via email, send a blank email to ga- advalert-subscribe@egroups.com Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ga-advalert/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: ga-advalert-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! 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