Legislative
Learn About The
Find Your State Legislator
2023 Georgia General Assembly
Monday, January 23 Day 5
This week things get underway at the state capitol in earnest. On Wednesday, Governor Kemp will deliver his State of the State address and outline further details of his budget for Fiscal Year 2024 and his priorities. Last week, the session was off to allow for the Appropriations Committees of both chambers to hear budget presentations from the various Department Commissioners.
Both the House (especially) and Senate had some changes in committee leadership and also establishing some new committees. The House, for example, now has three committee dealing with Health issues. Before it had one.
The bill that caught our attention right away is Senate Bill 1 (SB1). This bill would make permanent the prohibition for the state or any school district to require COVID vaccination. We along with all of medicine will oppose this. It’s lead sponsor is Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming.
And please don’t forget to look up your state legislators….your state senator and your state legislator. You can do so on our website by clicking on the “Find your legislator” tab (see above). It’s the first and crucial step in advocacy in state government issues. And it’s easy!
The Chapter Legislative Committee meets regularly during the session. It’s open to any chapter member, so if you’re interested contact Michelle Hudson at mhudson@gaaap.org at the Chapter office.
Melinda Willingham, MD, FAAP
Chair, Legislative Committee
Key House Leaders on Child Health Issues
Matt Hatchett, Dublin
Chair, Appropriations Committee
Rep. Butch Parrish, Swainsboro
Chair, Appropriations Sub-committee on Community Health/Medicaid
Rep. Katie Dempsey, Rome
Chair, Appropriations Sub-committee on Public Health (DPH, DBHDD, DHS)
Rep. Jon Burns, Statesboro
Speaker of the House
Rep. Jan Jones, Milton
Speaker Pro Tem
Rep. Chuck Efstration, Dacula
House Majority Leader
Rep. Sharon Cooper, Marietta
Chair, Health & Human Services
Key Senate Leaders on Child Health Issues
Lt. Governor Burt Jones, Jackson
President of the Senate
Sen. Blake Tillery, Vidalia
Chair, Appropriations Committee
Sen. Ben Watson, MD, Savannah
Chair, Health & Human Services Committee
Sen. Dean Burke, MD, Bainbridge
Chair, Appropriations Sub-committee on Community Health (Medicaid)
Sen. Steve Gooch, Dahlonega
Senate Majority Leader
Sen. John Kennedy
Senate President Pro Tem
Further Information
For a complete text of any these bills you can visit the Georgia General Assembly website: www.legis.state.ga.us. For more information on these or other bills, contact Rick Ward, at the Chapter office, at mhudson@gaaap.org. Thanks to the members of the Legislative Committee for their efforts during the session and to all our members who contacted their legislators about our issues. Your support and participation in the legislative process is vitally important to our advocacy.
