Legislative Update 04/06/26

 

Legislators, staff, lobbyists and their families all heaved a big sigh of relief at 1am Friday, April 3, as the House and Senate gaveled out Sine Die and closed the 40-day session. I am pleased to report that this session has been successful for the Georgia Pharmacy Association. SB 195, PEP/PrEP and HB 1138, dispensing birth control, both received final passage and are headed to the Governor’s Desk.  

 

It is important to also acknowledge bills that did not move forward, such as HB 1361, a bill aimed at restricting compounding. Within 24 hours of this bill being introduced, our whole organizational team worked to educate the sponsor, committee chairman and put the brakes on the bill moving forward. HB 1361 never even had a hearing.   

 

Of course, we would have liked HB 810, commercial reimbursement rates, and SB 91, PBM reform to make it all way through the legislative process. We are committed to bringing back a version of HB 810 next session. And let’s not forget that both the House,  HR 948, and the Senate, SR 927, will conduct a PBM Reform Study Committee this year tasked with bringing legislative recommendations to the General Assembly in January of 2027.  

 

A heartfelt thank you to our lobby team, staff, and members who advocated tirelessly—whether in committee rooms, on the ropes, or through countless texts and calls. Cindy Shepard, former Senator Jeff Mullis, and Greg Mullis represented us on the ground at the Capitol, ensuring our voice was heard where it matters most. 

  

Behind the scenes, our dedicated staff continues to work tirelessly to stay ahead in a fast-paced legislative environment and deliver this valuable resource—our weekly legislative update. Thank you to Kelli Persons for the writing and research and to Holly Hanchey for the copyediting and execution. 

 

I hope you will thank everyone and appreciate their work when you see them at Convention in June! 

 

Governor Kemp now has 40 calendar days to either sign or veto bills. We will send an update after this deadline has passed.  

 

 

All state house, state senate, statewide constitutional offices, U.S. Congress, and one U.S. Senate position will be on the ballot. You may also have County Commissioners, school board seats, judges, and others on your local ballot. Here is a link where you can check your voter registration, see early voting times and locations, and view your election day precinct.    

Shortly after 11pm on Sine Die the House and Senate both took up a Conference Committee Report on HB 974, or the compromise on the FY 2026-2027 budget.   

 

A few highlights:  

 

Caught up in these negotiations between the chambers was the resolve of the House to do property tax relief and the Senate quest to eliminate the income tax. HB 1116, sponsored by Rep. Shaw Blackmon (R-Bonaire), would have capped an annual property tax increase at 3% but failed on the Senate floor by a vote of 24-28. Shortly thereafter, the Senate took SB 33, sponsored by Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta), a bill about hemp farming, and substituted it with a different bill on property taxes and sales taxes. As of this writing, the full bill language is not available online.  

 

HB 463, also sponsored by Rep. Shaw Blackmon (R-Bonaire), received final passage by both chambers. HB 463, if signed by the Governor, will lower the state income tax by 0.125% annually until it reaches 3.99%. The income tax rate for 2026 is 4.99%. It also adds a tax exemption of $1,750 in tips and overtime.    

In legislative lingo we are used to terms like a Christmas tree bill, Franken bills, and Zombie bills. A Christmas tree bill is where provision from other bills gets added and hangs like ornaments. A Franken bill is where two or more bills are smushed together to make one large omnibus bill, and of course Zombie bills arise and come back from the mostly dead.  Sen. Carden Summers (R-Cordele) added a new colorful description of a Cluster Bus bill when describing a last-minute bill on the Senate floor. The good news is that it didn’t have anything to do with pharmacy.  

 

As reported last week, once such bill that has had a revival was HB 291, sponsored by Rep. Darlene Taylor (R-Thomasville). HB 291 would create a Georgia Community Health Worker (CHW) Certification Committee under the Department of Public Health. HB 291 passed the House169 – 4 in 2025 and sat waiting in Senate. Once it was not scheduled for a floor vote in the Senate, the House Health committee stripped out the existing SB 39 and replaced it with HB 291. Unfortunately, this was not enough to get it over the finish line before the final gavel.  

 

HB 1138, sponsored by Rep. Beth Camp (R-Concord), the Increasing Access to Contraceptives to Act, would allow pharmacists under a joint protocol agreement to dispense self-administered contraceptives and administer injectable contraceptives without a patient-specific prescription. HB 1138 was amended in committee by Sen. Sally Harrell (D-Atlanta) with a portion of her bill, SB 278, about adding folic acid to corn masa. SB 278 was a bipartisan bill that had previously passed out of committee and was tabled on the Senate Floor on Crossover Day. On Sine Die, HB 1138 was then amended on the Senate Floor to remove the provisions on corn masa and passed the Senate 49-1. Shortly after, the House agreed to the Senate’s changes and HB 1138 is now on its way to the Governor’s desk.  

 

SB 440, sponsored by Senator Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta), a bipartisan code update dealing with the Department of Public Health that passed the Senate 51-0. In the House Public and Community Health committee, Rep. Karen Mathiak (R-Griffin) proposed an amendment to SB 440 with similar language to her bill HB 1089, which would have allowed the selling of Ivermectin to anyone 18 years or older from behind the counter in a pharmacy without a prescription. SB 440 was then substituted in the House Rules committee to include the original SB 440, HB 1089, and two new additional provisions around the mental Health parity law making it a 31-page bill. SB 440 passed the House 98-76 but did receive final passage from the Senate. On the Senate side, provisions of the original SB 440 were added to HB 657, sponsored by Leesa Hagan (R – Lyons) which delt with recovery community organizations. The Senate passed the new HB 657 47-1, but it did not receive final passage from the House.   

 

HB 291 Health; certification of community health workers; provide  

Sponsor Darlene Taylor (R-Thomasville)  

Status: Passed House 168-4; Passed Senate Health & Human Services; Stalled in Senate Rules  

This bill would create a Community Health Worker Certification Committee tasked with creating rules and standards for a Community Health Worker certification. This committee would also be tasked with establishing a process for handling complaints and revocation of such certificates. 

 

HB 382 Controlled substances; Schedule I; psilocybin; revise a provision 

Sponsor Ron Stephens (R-Savannah)  

Status: Passed House 167-0; Passed Senate 38-10; At the Governor’s desk   

Drugs containing a synthetic version of psilocybin and approved by the Food and Drug Administration would not be defined as Psilocybin. This would allow for use in treatment of mental health, including PTSD, in patients. Would remove the certified technician requirements in the tech to pharmacist ratios. A pharmacist could supervise up to four pharmacy technicians but adds that a pharmacist cannot supervise more than six individuals, including interns and externs.  

 

HB 810 Insurance; require that final reimbursements to pharmacies for prescription drugs are based on certain formulas 

Sponsor Rick Jasperse (R-Jasper)  

Status: Passed House Health; Stalled in House Rules 

Require PBMs reimburse Pharmacies at NADAC plus the current Georgia Medicaid professional dispensing fee. If NADAC is not available, reimbursement must be based on WAC as of January 1, 2026, plus the same dispensing fee. 

 

 

HB 974 General appropriations; State Fiscal Year July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027 

Sponsor Jon Burns (R - Newington)  

Status: Passed House 160-0; Passed Senate 52-0; Conference Committee Report passed House 163-5 and Senate 53-0  

Budget for FY 2027. More budget documents can be found here. 

 

HB 1138 Increasing Access to Contraceptives Act; enact 

Sponsor Beth Camp (R-Concord) 

Status: Passed House 162-4; Passed Senate 49-1; At the Governor’s Desk  

This bill would allow pharmacists, under a joint protocol agreement, to dispense self-administered hormonal contraceptives and administer injectable hormonal contraceptives without a patient-specific prescription. The Department of Public Health and the Board of Pharmacy would join in a joint protocol agreement and be responsible for approving training for pharmacists, self-screening risk assessment for the patient, and other requirements.  

 

HB 1329 Controlled substances; Schedule I; provide certain provisions 

Sponsor Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) 

Status: Passed House 171-0; Passed Senate 41-0; At Governor’s Desk  

Annual Drug update bill for over fifty drugs, Aceclidine to  Zopapogene imadenovec-drba. There is added language on dispensing epinephrine nasal spray of 2mg or less OTC. 

 

HB 1344 Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact 

Sponsor Matt Reeves (R-Duluth) 

Status: Passed House 166-3; Passed Senate 53-0; At the Governor’s Desk  

37-page bi-partisan bill raising fees and penalties that the Insurance and Fire Safety Commission may impose on entities found in violation of many code sections. If a person or entity is found to be acting as a PBM without a license or violating regulations, the violation fine would rise to $4,000 - $20,000 depending on the severity of the violation. It is currently $2,000 to $10,000.  

 

HR 948 House Study Committee on Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access to Prescription Medications; create  

Sponsor Ron Stephens (R-Savannah)  

Status: In House Health; Passed House 157-0   

Creates a House Study Committee on PBMs. Committee members would include Chairman of the House Appropriations committee, Chairman of the House Health Committee and three other members appointed by the Speaker of the House. This study committee only requires approval by the House. Mirror language of SR 927 has already received passage.  

 

SB 91 State Employees' Health Insurance Plan; Board of Community Health from entering into, executing, or renewing a contract with any pharmacy benefits manager that owns or has an ownership interest in any retail pharmacy; prohibit 

Sponsored by Chairman Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia) 

Status: Passed Senate 52-0; Passed House Health Committee; On House Rules Calendar for Sine Die – was not called 

This bill would prohibit Georgia’s state employee health insurance plan from contracting with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) that own or have an ownership interest in any retail pharmacy or any legal entity that contracts or uses a PBM that owns or has ownership interest in a retail pharmacy. This bill aims to prevent conflicts of interest and promote fair competition in prescription drug pricing and reimbursement. 

 

SB 195 Pharmacies; pharmacists are authorized to dispense preexposure prophylaxis and postexposure prophylaxis under certain conditions; provide 

Sponsor Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome)  

Status: Passed Senate 55-0; Passed House 155-7; At the Governor’s desk   

Bi-partisan bill allowing pharmacists to dispense PrEP and PEP treatment. Before dispensing or administering PrEP or PEP medication to a patient, a pharmacist will need to complete a training program approved by the Georgia Board of Pharmacy and accredited by ACPE. The Board of Pharmacy will need to approve the training program by January 1, 2027. The patient may present a negative HIV test taken within the previous seven days, or the pharmacist may order and administer a CLIA-waived HIV test. 

 

SB 220 Putting Georgia's Patients First Act; enact  

Sponsor Matt Brass (R-Newnan) 

Status: Passed Senate 38-17; Passed House 138-21; Senate Amended House Version 38-14; Back to House agreed to Senate Amendment; At Governor’s Desk   

This bill would replace “Low THC Oil” with “Medical cannabis” throughout various code sections and renaming the “Low THC Oil Patient Registry” the “Medical Cannabis Patient Registry.” The updated version of this bill would change the dosage limit from a percentage to milligrams and set the limit at 12,000 milligrams. It expands the delivery method to include vaporizer and qualifying conditions.  

 

SB 423 Government Transparency; campaign committees, independent committees, political action committees, and leadership committees from accepting contributions or donations from non-Georgia persons that exceed 50 percent of all contributions received; prohibit 

Sponsor Timonthy Bearden (R-Carrollton)  

Status: Passed Senate 33-21; Passed House Governmental Affairs; Tabled on House Floor   

This bill would prohibit campaigns, leadership committees, and political action committees from accepting more than fifty percent of their donations from donors out of state. (PharmPAC would be well within this limit should this bill pass) 

 

SB 440 Department of Public Health; provisions relative to duties or functions; modernize and update 

Sponsor Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta)  

Status: Passed Senate 55-0; Passed House Public & Community Health; In House Rules 

Bipartisan code update dealing with the Department of Public Health. Removes outdated language on the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). The Georgia Department of Public Health has asked for these updates to remove the requirement that the department establish a PDMP Electronic Database Review Advisory Committee, charged with consulting with and advising the department on matters related to the establishment, maintenance, and operation of electronic prescription review. The Electronic Database Advisory Committee has not met since 2023 and was largely composed of DPH staff. The program will still engage partners in the development of improvements to the PDMP, but a statutorily established committee is no longer necessary per DPH. Updated bill would allow the selling of ivermectin to anyone 18 years or older and behind the counter in a pharmacy without a prescription. 

 

SR 927 Senate Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access to Prescription Medications Study Committee; create  

Sponsor Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia)  

Status: Passed Senate Health and Human Services; Passed Senate 48-0   

Creates a Senate Study Committee on PBMs. Committee members would include Chairman of the Senate Appropriations committee, Chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and three other members appointed by the Lt. Governor. This study committee only requires approval by the Senate. Mirror language of HR 948 has already received passage.  

 

 

PharmPAC is the Georgia Pharmacy Association’s political action committee, established to advocate on behalf of all of pharmacy practice in the state to protect the rights of pharmacy employees, protect the practice of pharmacy in the state, elect candidates who champion pharmacy and pharmacists, and bring important policy issues to the attention of elected officials in Georgia.

 

PharmPAC works at the local and state levels, leading the way in influencing pharmacy-related legislation. An investment in PharmPAC is an investment in the future of pharmacy across the entire state, protecting the long-term health of the practice of pharmacy for independent pharmacy owners, employee pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians so that the vital work of these health care professionals can continue in the best interests of the people of Georgia – your patients. 

 

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These updates and alerts are a benefit of GPhA membership to keep our members in the know. GPhA believes it is valuable information to help you be a better pharmacist, pharmacy technician, and pharmacy owner.

 

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