2023 Legislative Insider as of 3.7.23

On Wednesday, HB411(tele-dentistry) was in House Health Committee amid a full docket of bills with one last chance to make it out for Crossover Day. Our bill was second to last and sparked a fair amount of debate once all parties had been heard. Dr. Richard Weinman, Dr. Jamie Mitchell, and Dr. Tradd Harter all made the trip to the Gold Dome to testify at the State Capitol for the hearing.  However, due to time constraints, only Dr. Weinman testified, but he provided excellent responses to questions from the committee members, as well as those made by our opposition. Our bill passed out of committee on a 10-5 vote and now moves to the House Rules Committee, where it must pass on Monday in order to be eligible for a vote on the House floor.  Monday is Crossover Day and the last day that anything can pass from one chamber to the other in attempt to make it to Day 40 and the Governor's Desk. 

We continue to have conversations with House members from all corners of the state and encourage our members to reach out to their Representatives and encourage them to support HB411. 

HB82 will be on the House floor on Monday as well. HB82 is an Income Tax credit for rural Physicians that have students in their practice and includes Dentists. We will be watching this and will report back. 

Monday will be a long day (currently taking bets on when we will leave the building - most guesses are closer to midnight). The House has 78 bills on the floor Monday and the Senate has 74. We have more of a Sine die calendar than a Crossover Calendar, so everyone is already planning comfortable shoes and snacks for the long-haul. 
We have one more LAW Day on March 9. We cancelled the March 15 event due to a lack of signups. 

• Thursday, March 9th: Southeastern District, Georgia Dental Society 

• Wednesday, March 15th: cancelled

You can register here.

Your GDA legislative team is watching legislation as it's coming in and working hard on your behalf under the Gold Dome. If you have any questions about this report, your state legislators, or the legislative session, please do not hesitate to contact me at theresa@gadental.org.