by Dawn A. Randolph, MPA
CEO, Georgia Pharmacy Association
Welcome to our second weekly Legislative Update Newsletter of the 2025-2026 Georgia General Assembly Legislative Session. We'll start once again with a look at key events this week: Monday, January 20 -- is the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday, Inauguration Day for U.S. President Donald J. Trump and the College Football National Championship, hosted in Georgia at Mercedes Benz Stadium. Tuesday, January 21 – 9:00am: House and Senate joint Appropriations Committee hearings which will continue through Thursday, January 23. See below for breakdown of the budget and budget hearing schedule or watch the hearing live here.
Mark Your Calendars!
The most cherished traditional resolution of every General Assembly was adopted on Monday. SR 6, the Adjournment Resolution, sets the schedule for the legislative session. The Georgia General Assembly is limited by the State constitution to 40 days, referred to a Legislative Days, in which both the House and Senate conduct full floor sessions. Other calendar days to be aware of are Crossover Day, scheduled for Thursday March 6th and Sine Day on Friday, April 4th. Crossover Day, or Legislative Day 28, is the last day a piece of legislation can “crossover” to the other chamber for consideration. If a piece of legislation does not crossover on or before Legislative Day 28, it cannot be considered by the other body for the remainder of this year’s session. There are ways around this, and I’m sure we will report on as it happens. Sine Die, or Legislative Day 40, is the last day of the legislative session. Sine Die is Latin for “without day” [to return]. Committee hearings can and will be conducted on both legislative days and non-legislative days. New Session = New Rules + New Committees Part of the housekeeping in both chambers is establishing the rules of decorum and operations. HR 3, or Rules of the House, as presented by Majority Leader Rep. Chuck Efstration (R-Mulberry), had one notable change this session – limiting the number of bills a representative could introduce to 10. Committee chairs will be extended an additional five bills as long as the additional bills pertain to the subject matter of their committee. Any representative can petition the Rules Committee by Legislative Day 20 for permission to go above this limit. Committee assignments were also established this week. Among them is the reappointment of Rep. Butch Parrish (R-Swainsboro) as chairman of the powerful Rules Committee and chair of the Special Committee on Health. Chairman Parrish is a fellow pharmacist who is celebrating 40 years as a State Representative. He was first sworn in on January 14, 1985. 
The State of the State & The Budget On Thursday, January 16, Governor Brian Kemp reported the State of our State is “strong and resilient,” referencing the whopping 11 hurricanes Georgia has endured during his tenure in office. Hurricane relief efforts, tort reform, school security, and legislation to combat human trafficking, spearheaded by First Lady Marty Kemp, were highlighted in the address to the joint session of legislators. Many in rural south and east Georgia are still feeling the effects of Hurricane Helene. Governor Kemp committed continued support and resources to help with the damage. While he thanked our Congressional delegation for their support, he called on them and both President Biden and President-elect Trump to fast-track funding to the state. Some of the relief is in the direct form of tax cuts. The state has budgeted very conservatively over the past few years and passed several tax rebates and suspended the state gas tax. The state income tax rate has moved from 6% to 5.75% to its current rate of 5.39%. In the FY26 budget, the Governor is proposing another 20-point cut to bring the state income tax rate to 5.19%. You can look at this from two sides – save individuals $7.5 billion over 10 years or have $7.5 billion less for healthcare, mental health, public safety and education. There are always two sides to consider in budgeting. The highest priority legislative initiative for the Governor will be to limit civil lawsuits and curb large jury awards, commonly referred to as Tort reform. The Governor said, “I believe one of the biggest threats to Georgia’s future is our state’s legal environment.” He conducted three round tables around the state to gather input from large employers, healthcare providers and small businesses. He heard that businesses are weighed down by the high cost of every type of insurance, with premiums growing from 30 to 100 percent over the past few years, with some facing no options for insurance coverage at all. The Governor was so serious about this issue, he threatened to bring the Legislators back for a special session later in the year. This brought a few gasps, a little laughter and some applause. Governor Kemp has led Georgia through some of the most devasting natural disasters and political events of our time, from the COVID-19 pandemic in the middle of his first term to threats to public safety with a horrific school shooting. In his address, he said “...tough times don’t last, tough people do.” Georgians are both tough and resilient as we navigate through these times. You can watch or read the full speech by Governor Kemp here. The link to the full state budget is also on the same webpage.
Budget week is here!
While the session will break Monday, January 20, for several important ceremonies and a small football game 😉, on Tuesday and Thursday, January 21 and 23, they will be back to hear from all the state agencies about their budgets. Here is the schedule. The Governor will kick off budget week with a more focused presentation on his goals for the Amended FY25 budget (and the full FY26 budget. As we mentioned last week, Georgia’s State Economist, Dr. Robert “Bob” Buschman will give his analysis of the current economy as well as discuss the possible economic futures of Georgia. You may want to watch the following agency presentations: Tuesday, January 21: - 1:30-2:00pm: Insurance Commissioner John King
Thursday, January 23: - 8:00am -10:00am: Health-focused agencies
- 8:00am - 8:40am: Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Commissioner Kevin Tanner
- 8:40am - 9:20am: Community Health Commissioner Russel Carlson
- 9:20am - 9:50am: Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey (Fun Fact: The TV series Northern Exposure was partly based on her experience as a rural doctor in Alaska)
What We're Watching:
HB 89 Public Health, Department of; require healthcare providers, facilities, and pharmacies to provide the Maternal Mortality Review Committee with psychiatric or other clinical records
Sponsor: Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta)
Status: In House Public & Community Health Committee The Georgia Department of Public Health collects information and records to provide information to the Maternal Mortality Review Committee. The records and information are collected from all healthcare providers, including pharmacists, to obtain information around a maternal death. This bill will add psychiatric and other clinical records to the requirements and create a Regional Perinatal Center Advisory Committee. HB 46 Public Health, Department of; Maternal Mortality Review Committee; provide composition Sponsor: Viola Davis (D-Stone Mountain)
Status: In House Public & Community Health Committee This bill makes changes to the composition of the Maternal Mortality Review Committee, adding language to ensure individuals appointed to the committee have health and mental health expertise as well as include representatives from community advocacy groups. It also addresses removing a member of the committee and breaches of confidentiality. SB 5 Private Review Agents; health insurers to implement and maintain a program that allows for the selective application of reductions in prior authorization requirements; provide for annual filing; and to appeal conflicting laws. Sponsor: Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta)
Status: In Senate Insurance & Labor Each piece of legislation has a preamble describing what it does or is supposed to do. We will typically give a synopsis of a bill in real people speak instead of legalese. However, for this bill I thought it was pretty instructive of what it will attempt to do. This bill is under Title 33 governing Insurance; therefore, it is the Commissioner of Insurance who will be charged with implementing this effort. In legislative parlance this could be considered a “little bill” with a big impact. A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 46 of Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to certification of private review agents, so as to provide for health insurers to implement and maintain a program that allows for the selective application of reductions in prior authorization requirements under certain circumstances; to provide for an annual filing; to provide for the promulgation of rules and regulations; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date and applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. SB 6 Controlled Substances; determine whether a controlled substance has been adulterated; authorize the use of testing equipment Sponsor: Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta)
Status: In Senate Health & Human Services Committee Current law shields the user of drug testing equipment in the detection of synthetic opioids in a controlled substance from getting a drug possession misdemeanor charge. This bill would just say all drug testing equipment would be shielded, not restricted to opioid testing strips.
Our Weekly Reminder
Keep an eye open each Monday morning for our legislative updates so you can follow what is happening under the Gold Dome. When and if we need your help, we will send out a State Action Alert asking you to contact your state representative and/or state senator. These updates and alerts are a benefit of GPhA membership and will serve as a primer to help you get ready for the activity ahead. There is a lot to read here, and we believe it is important information to help you be a better Pharmacist, Pharmacy Technician and Pharmacy Owner. We expect great outcomes for Pharmacy this session!
Legislative Website
The Georgia General Assembly has a very easy to navigate website. You can find your representative at My Voter Page and then go to the Legislative Website to find out more about your representative. Georgia has 180 House members and 56 Senators.
We will continue to keep you updated on the Legislative Session, and hope you enjoy this GPhA member-only benefit, one of the many reasons to belong to GPhA.
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