Georgia General Assembly set to open 2019 session Monday

ATLANTA — A lot of new faces will be wandering around the halls of the state Capitol on Monday when the Georgia General Assembly convenes for its 40-day 2019 legislative session.

Governor-elect Brian Kemp will be inaugurated on Monday, and Lt. Gov.-elect Geoff Duncan will be sworn in that same day.

Forty-two freshmen are among the group of 236 representatives and senators who make up the General Assembly, and state Democrats picked up 13 seats. While it was not the “blue tsunami” many had predicted, the election yielded enough blue seats for it to be noticed, and for former gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams to declare “Georgia is a purple state.”

As usual, the first week of the session will deal with a budget draft and the selection of committee chairmen and member committee assignments.

The General Assembly will take a break for the King holiday on Jan. 21, then the work begins.

Several legislators have said they think state election laws and the voting process will take center stage for much of the upcoming session.

In April 2018, then-Secretary of State Kemp established the Secure, Accessible & Fair Elections (SAFE) Commission to study options for Georgia’s next voting system. The SAFE Commission will conduct thorough discussions on all options – including the feasibility of using all hand-marked paper ballots to all electronic machines with a voter-verified paper trail – and travel the state to solicit feedback from stakeholders.

Members were also instructed to conduct cost analysis of market options, research post-election audit procedures, and provide legislative recommendations to lawmakers. The commission held its final meeting last Thursday, and the two leading proposals appear to be a digital machine that provides a hard copy for review before the voter casts the ballot and a paper ballot marked with a pen that can be digitally scanned.

New or changes to existing election laws will also be debated. Both issues are guaranteed to be contentious items this session. Changes are also on the horizon in regard to health care, especially rural health care, health care regulations and major changes to CON (certificate of need) laws.

Gov. Nathan Deal’s Rural Development Council’s final recommendations focus a great deal of attention on health care.

The HRDC report, which took two years to put together, states: “The current system for health care delivery must be revolutionized to provide the level of access, quality and cost controls that support better health outcomes for Georgians. The state should revolutionize the industry by shifting from the current restrictive, regulatory certificate of need model to an accreditation and licensing process for hospitals that recognizes and encourages care outcomes.

“In addition, there is a lack of transparency for financial and community standards of care that must be addressed to promote equitable competition and ensure that tax dollars, tax credits and tax exemptions are being used appropriately to subsidize care being delivered in nonprofit hospitals.”

According to a recent report from Andy Miller of Georgia Health News, the current health care delivery system “must be revolutionized’’ to improve access to medical services, control costs and improve health outcomes for Georgians. Rep. Terry England, R-Auburn, who is co-chairman of the council, offered that assessment.

The CON process governs the construction and expansion of health care facilities and services. A provider must obtain a certificate of need to move forward with such a project. Such health care regulatory decisions have a large impact on communities and businesses.

One lawmaker said that CON laws will likely be changed dramatically or eliminated entirely.

Other bill possibilities would be in education, dealing with potential raises for teachers, and rural broadband to help under-served ares of the state attract businesses and industry.

In addition, it may come out of left field, but watch for a newly energized Democratic base to make a push to eliminate as many Confederate memorials as it can. Insiders say any such bills are not likely to make it out of committee.