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LEGISLATIVE LINKS
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GEORGIA ORTHOPAEDIC SOCIETY LOBBYISTS: DON BOLIA JOSEPH YOUNG MATT GARVER 404-736-7826 LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FEBRUARY 2008 2008 Legislative Session Approaches By Don Bolia, GOS Lobbyist
January 14 was the first day of the legislative session, and last session’s hot button issues are becoming increasingly more heated. The four issues rising to the forefront of the legislative agenda are: Tax Reform, Water Policy, Transportation and CON. These four issues are making headlines almost daily and have resulted in many months of research in study committees. As we await the final reports from these committees, we can be sure that this will be a busy and fast paced session. 2008 is also an election year creating additional pressure on the legislature to address these key issues.
While these four main issues are all important to the medical community, most of the focus has been pushed towards the issue of Certificates of Need. Last session only one bill, HB 337, made it out of the Rules Committee. This bill was authored by Rep. Tom Graves (R 12th) and would define general surgery as a single specialty concerning health planning statutes. We also anticipate a bill from the Governor’s office relating to CON.
The Department of Community Health Board met on December 13, 2007, and voted on a key change in the definition of General Surgery as a specialty. This was met with opposition from the Health and Human Services Committee in the House of Representative as well as the hospital groups. We anticipate one or more of the hospital groups will litigate over this rule change.
During the past several weeks, the Governor’s staff has been holding meetings with the key stakeholders including representatives from the hospitals and the various physician specialty groups. If last session was any indication, the Governor’s office is pro-doctor, and we foresee a similar stance this session. We have been talking with MAG, as well as other interested parties, and anticipate the Governor will introduce a compromise version this session.
With regards to the legislation dealing with the drought issues, the “GREAT Tax” Plan, and legislation to deal with our increasing transportation problems, we will keep a watchful eye on how these issues develop. We have met with Speaker Glenn Richardson, and at this point the medical community has been exempted from his tax plan. The Speaker’s tax bill has many layers and details that have yet to be worked out. Joe Young from our office has been charged with writing the water legislation for the Speaker’s office, thus we will have up to date information. And finally on the transportation front we will be working with key stakeholders on creating a plan to fund the much needed infrastructure improvements throughout the state. As with all pertinent legislative issues, we will keep the medical community informed of all developments.
GEORGIA ORTHOPAEDIC SOCIETY PAC ADDRESS FOR CONTRIBUTIONS: GEORGIA ORTHO PAC 186 Lake View Drive North Macon, GA 31210 |
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