G-CAPP Policy and
Advocacy News
2007 Georgia General Assembly Update
The Georgia General Assembly has completed “crossover day” - the deadline for bills to have passed out of at least one chamber in order to be considered for passage by the other chamber during this session. House Republican leaders announced that they would be postponing consideration of major tax cut proposals, including Governor Perdue’s proposal to eliminate the state income tax on retirement income for upper-income seniors, until next year’s session.
The following are some of the bills G-CAPP is tracking that continue to move forward this session:
HB 340 (Rep. Glenn Richardson, 19th), which reduces the PeachCare eligibility threshold from 235% to 200% of the federal poverty level for new enrollees, was approved by a vote of 101-63 in the House yesterday and now goes to the Senate for consideration. Children currently covered will be "grandfathered" into the program. The bill makes vision and dental coverage optional for an additional premium and would create new checks on income and citizenship for potential enrollees. Click here for a Georgia Budget and Policy Institute analysis of the potential impact of HB 340.
State leaders have announced their intention to fill the funding gap for PeachCare, the state’s health insurance program for children in low-income, working families, while Georgia waits for Congress to act on State Children’s Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP) reauthorization. The House Appropriations Committee approved a midyear spending plan that would provide an extra $81 million in state funds for PeachCare. Meanwhile, the freeze on PeachCare enrollment that went into effect on March 11th remains in place.
TAKE ACTION: Contact your Senator and Lt. Governor Casey Cagle and ask them to act to fund the PeachCare shortfall without reducing enrollment, cutting benefits or increasing eligibility requirements for children.
Other Legislation of Interest
HB 152 (Rep. John Lunsford, 110th), which would make more high school students eligible for the HOPE Scholarship, passed in the House yesterday. The bill would allow homeschooled students, students from nontraditional schools, and holders of a GED to qualify for the HOPE Scholarship if they score in the 85th percentile or higher on a standardized college admissions test.
HB 429 (Rep. Sharon Cooper, 41st), the Georgia HIV Pregnancy Screening Act of 2007, would require physicians and health care providers to test pregnant women for HIV and refer infected women to counseling and medical services. Women would have the option to refuse the HIV tests. Around 20 to 30 babies are born with HIV each year in Georgia, and treating infected pregnant women in their first trimesters can reduce the possibility that their babies become infected to as low as 1 percent. The bill passed in the House by a vote of 140 to 14 and has been referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
SB 88 (Sen. Renee Unterman, 45th), the Care of a Grandchild Act, would provide grandparents caring for a grandchild the power to enroll the child in school, and to authorize medical, dental and mental health care for the child. The bill would also create a grandchild caregiver subsidy for grandparents living at less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The bill was passed by a vote of 55 to 1 in the Senate and is now before the House Judiciary Committee.
Track 2007 Legislation
For
the latest updates on legislation, visit the General
Assembly web site and search by the bill number in the
top right hand corner of the page. You may also find information
for contacting bill sponsors and other legislators on the
General Assembly web site, or find your legislators here.
To follow legislative issues that G-CAPP is working on, click here.
G-CAPP Fast Fact
One out of four teens ages 15 to 17 did not have any discussions with their parents or guardians about abstinence, birth control or STDs, according to the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth.
Source: Child Trends, Facts at a Glance, #2006-03.
