Senior issues newsletter [Mar. 21, 2016]

WEBSITE ABOUT US CO-AGE RESOURCES CONTACT US March 21, 2016: Session Issue 10
Thursday is the last day of the session! The General Assembly will be in session Tuesday and Thursday of this week. We will be sending out our Sine Die issue sometime Friday so check your in-box for the LAST WEEKLY issue of the Senior Issues Newsletter. After that issue we will go back to our MONTHLY issue schedule.
It has been an interesting session. We have had our share of wins, losses and politics as usual under the Gold Dome in 2016. Friday was the last week of qualifying so we are keeping a close eye on those that are retiring from their seats and those that will have others vying for their seat. Be sure you educate yourself about the candidates in your district and get out and vote!
Read on to hear about the fate of HB 1037 last week! Click here to visit our website photo gallery of session highlights.
Sincerely,
Kathy
Kathy Floyd, Executive Director
Budget final steps... Thank you to our MANY advocates
that took action on our alert to ask the budget conferees [Terry England, Jan
Jones & Jon Burns from the House and Jack Hill, David Shafer & Bill
Cowsert from the Senate] to keep the funding for aging services in the
budget! It may not be until Sine Die when the conference committee
members will come back with their recommendations. The final budget does have to "sit on the legislators desk" for at least one hour before they
can vote on it. Feedback from the conferees thus far is very encouraging.
In addition, it is interesting to note that HB 1085, the bill to align the CCSP funding, in statute, over to the Department of
Community Health, has not made it out of Senate Rules yet.
Funding for In-Home Services
Funding for HCBS
The current allocations in the FY 2017 budget for Home and Community Based Services include:
$2,055,000 for 1,000 slots in non-Medicaid HCBS $500,000 for meals
Funding for Transitions Services
Transitions Funding
Transitions funding received a total of $1 million that will transition 167 seniors from nursing homes to community settings. This funding will supplement the MFP program but will allow more flexibility to meet the needs of those transitioning.
Abuser Registry to Prevent Abuse
Creation of Abuser Registry
We are pleased to report to you that HB 1037, the bill to expand the CNA Registry to allow complaints to be received on all CNAs, regardless of where they work, passed the Senate by a unanimous vote on Wednesday, March 16, 2016! Hopefully you heard the news via our Facebook video post. Be sure to follow us on FB so that you get the updates in real time! Thank you to our MANY advocates who took action on the alert to help the bill get out of Senate Rules and to the floor for a vote. Read the full bill here. In addition to HB 1037, advocates continue to work on the House and Senate Resolutions for a study committee on a Georgia Abuser Registry and we are hopeful that at least one of them will pass before the end of this session.

Advocates look on as HB 1037 is voted on in the Senate.
Increase Access to Oral Health
HB 684 to Improve Dental Care for Seniors
GCOA attended the Hinman Dental Meeting last week to video the Georgia Dental Hygienists at their booth, as a follow-up to our session. We have received some positive feedback on the opinion editorial that ran last week about the fate of HB 684 this session. If you haven't had a chance to read it, just click here.
Reduce Strain on Caregivers
The Family Care Act
Last week at the Capitol we spent some time video-interviewing the key people that led the fight for the Family Care Act under the Gold Dome: Senator Michael Williams (R-Cumming) and Butch Miller (R-Gainesville). Attend or host one of our Engage with CO-AGE sessions to see all our session wrap-up videos.
Other Important News for You
HB 920
HB 920 went to the Senate Floor for a vote on Wednesday, March 16th. The Senate voted to pass the bill by a vote of 45-9.
Other Bills Impacting Seniors
Below is a listing of other bills that we are keeping our eye on this legislative session. Feel free to click on the Bill number to get to the full bill language via the General Assembly's website.
HB 765 - Social services; board member appointments for the County Department of DFCS should include retired individuals.
HB 768 - Establish a qualified ABLE program in the state to enable the contribution of funds to tax-exempt accounts to pay for qualified expenses of eligible individuals with disabilities. The "ABLE (Georgia Achieving a Better Life Experience)" Act.
HB 954 - A bill to amend code in order to enact the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act.
HB 961, HB 962, HB 963 - All Kinship Care related bills.
SB 207 - A bill to enact the "Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act."
SB 267 - Firearms; provide for reduced weapons carry license/renewal application fee; persons 65 years of age or older.
SB 316 - A "Bingo" Bill: to amend Code Section 16-12-60, so as to remove the permissible prize limitation while preserving the weekly permissible prize limitation.

ENGAGE with CO-AGE Week:
GCOA has designated April 1822 as Engage with CO-AGE week in order to focus on Georgia Seniors, how they fared during the 2016 legislative session AND what we can do to bring more focus to seniors and their issues. We will provide a "Meeting in a Box" so that sessions can happen all over the state. It will be easy to host a one-hour "Engage with CO-AGE" session in your community because we will provide materials, videos and a PowerPoint for you to share with the attendees. Choose a date that works for you during the Engage week. Please let us know if you would like to be a host by contacting Eric Ryan via email or via phone at 404-657-5344 and providing us with the event date, time and location. Larger groups can also request a speaker for their event.
Georgia Council on Aging
404-657-5343 | www.gcoa.org
Georgia Council on Aging, 2 Peachtree St. N.W., Suite 32-270, Atlanta, GA 30303 SafeUnsubscribeTM gadocs@uga.edu
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