Snow Days Replaced Budget Weekby Dawn A. Randolph, MPA
CEO, Georgia Pharmacy Association
Welcome to our third 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 27 -- is Legislative Day Six with both chambers gaveling in at 10am. Various Appropriations subcommittees are scheduled for 1pm. House Health Committee is scheduled to meet at 2pm. Among the presenters are Commissioner Russel Carlson and CIO Chad Purcell of the Department of Community Health. Tuesday, January 28 -- Legislative Day Seven and State of the Judiciary. Supreme Court of Georgia Chief Justice Michael Boggs will address a joint session of the General Assembly at 11am in the house chambers. Appropriations Subcommittee on Health is scheduled to meet at 3pm. Commissioners Carlson (DCH) and Toomey (DPH) are expected to present. Wednesday, January 29 – Thursday, January 30, will take us through Legislative Day Nine. As seen with the snow days this week, everything under the gold dome is fluid so keep your eyes on the calendar.
Meet our Lobbying Team:
Cindy Shepherd is a government relations and public affairs professional contract lobbyist with over twenty-seven years of experience in two of the three branches of Georgia state government. Most notable she worked on the staff of former Governor Zell Miller. Ms. Shepherd has worked as the contract lobbyist for Ga Pharmacy Association for the past sixteen years. Cindy has also assisted other clients on legislative, regulatory and budget issues in the areas of healthcare, pharmaceuticals and taxation to list a few key issue areas. One of her greatest strengths is an expert knowledge of the budget process and strategic relationships with key influencers and policy makers tied to this process.
Retired Senator Jeff Mullis served in the Georgia State Senate for over 22 years, chairing the Senate Rules Committee for 10 years. He currently is the Founder and Principal of the Midnight Rider Consulting firm. He was a longtime ally to the pharmacy community and championed multiple key pieces of legislation for the industry. He maintains strong relationships on both sides of the aisle in the General Assembly and enjoys working to support GPhA's mission of protecting pharmacists' ability to service the citizens of Georgia.
Greg Mullis is a graduate of Kennesaw State University and is currently a partner at Midnight Rider Consulting. He has worked at the State Capitol in multiple roles dealing with legislation and has a long history of service on a wide array of political campaigns. Greg is fully committed to using his relationships to ensure the success of GPhA's agenda and ensuring the future success of its' members.
Snow Day Book Report… er… Budget Report
As the winter weather disrupted the much-anticipated budget week, Governor Kemp released his prepared statements for the cancelled Appropriations hearings. Included in his highlights are: $614 Million for Hurricane Relief, half for debris clean up and road repair. $2.2 Billion in water and transportation infrastructure $1.1 Billion for community projects, directly to local governments for transportation, economic development, and water infrastructure $36 Million for new high-cost drugs in the Medicaid program, such as sickle cell therapy, in the aged, blind and disabled program $28 Million increase for Medicare Part D Clawback Payment $437,000 to mail Low THC Oil patient registry cards to patients $75,000 for the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy for new licensing software to enhance efficiency in licensure review. A large increase in salaries and other employee retention programs for the Department of Corrections.
There are also cuts throughout the budget. GPhA will be working non-stop on increasing the State Health Benefits (SHBP) dispensing fee. Currently at $3/prescription, GPhA will be working on the new legislation and budget request to obtain a fair reimbursement for SHBP prescription program. We anticipate the bill to be available this week. A breakdown of FY25 and FY26 can he found here. We will keep you updated as the subcommittee meetings start up this week!
What We're Watching ICYMI Edition:
(No new legislation was introduced this week – Legislative Offices were closed most of the week)
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.
Reminder & Quick Links:
These updates and alerts are a benefit of GPhA membership to keep our members in the know. 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. You can find your representative at My Voter Page. Visit Legislative Website to find out more about your representative & senator. Find the Committee Meeting Schedule here, and the list of Committees & Members here. | 
