Legislative Update on HB 997 and the 2017 Budget from Denise Kornegay

Hello All:

A lot has happened this week so I apologize for not getting this out earlier. First:

HB 997: Everyone did a fine job contacting the members of Ways and Means in an effort to move the bill out of committee this week. After several heart to hearts with leadership, and after exploring our options in the Senate, we have elected to delay the bill until the early part of the 2017 legislative session, with a revised effective date set retroactively to January 1, 2017. This was the effective date set in HB 997 so there will be no difference in implementation date caused by the delay.

We could have tried to move the bill through the Senate side, but risked losing it in the house this year. There is no real opposition to the bill, but it is an election year and some were nervous that this might be seen as providing a reward to several high income groups. Also, there was concern that the deduction had only been in play for a short time so little data really exists to measure its impact.

By delaying passage until January 2017 we buy more time to be sure that all players are comfortable and so that we can collect and report more data. The Statewide AHEC is planning to conduct its triennial survey of community based faculty in August of this year, and we will be adding questions about the deduction vs. credit.

You have all done a great job on this and should feel good about this moving forward. And we need to thank Chairman Powell, Representatives Geoff Duncan and Debbie Buckner for all of their help and to seek their continued support moving forward.

Second item:

The 2017 Budget is in the senate and we have been successful in advocating for funding within the Georgia Board to support our new residency slots, to support staffing needs, and to support funds for the new data system requested. $100,000 was also added by the House to create a new APRN / PA Loan Repayment program within the Georgia Board. We need to support the House versions in the budget AND request the Senate add another $100,000 to the APRN / PA Loan Repayment Program. Please let your senators and representatives know that these are issues important to you.

Again, thank you all for your work and your advocacy. Together, we will continue to improve primary care in Georgia.