SB170: SB170 Georgia Interagency Council for the Homeless; create

This bill adds a new section to Georgia's health code (O.C.G.A. § 31-2-20) directing the Department of Community Health to set up a grant program for certain rural hospitals. The grants would help pay for acquiring or installing backup generators so hospitals can keep running during a declared state of emergency. Only hospitals that qualify as an 'affected rural hospital,' meaning a nonprofit acute care hospital with fewer than 100 beds in a rural county (population under 50,000 by the 2020 census, with military personnel excluded from that count) located in a region where the Governor declared a state of emergency after July 1, 2024, would be eligible. The department would work with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to set grant criteria and would only fund hospitals that lack a backup generator and have not already received federal help for one. Funding depends on money the General Assembly or other sources, including federal funds, actually provide. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it or it becomes law without his signature.

• Creates a new grant program at the Department of Community Health to fund backup generators for qualifying rural hospitals.
• Limits eligibility to nonprofit acute care hospitals with fewer than 100 beds in rural counties under 50,000 population that were in a state of emergency declared after July 1, 2024.
• Requires the department to consult with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency when setting grant rules and awarding funds.
• Bars grants to hospitals that already have a backup generator or already received federal funding for one.
• Lets the department decide grant amounts case by case rather than setting a fixed dollar figure.
• Makes the whole program dependent on the General Assembly or other sources, including federal funds, actually appropriating money.

Small rural, nonprofit acute care hospitals in Georgia counties with fewer than 50,000 residents, especially those hit by a state of emergency after July 1, 2024, along with the Department of Community Health and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, which would jointly run the grant program.

If enacted, rural hospitals without backup power could gain state help buying generators, potentially letting them keep treating patients through hurricanes, storms, or other emergencies when the power grid fails, rather than having to transfer patients or shut down services.

• Section 1 adds new Code section 31-2-20 defining 'affected rural hospital' and 'rural county' for purposes of the grant program.
• Section 1 directs the Department of Community Health to establish a grant program for backup generator acquisition or installation at eligible hospitals.
• Section 1 requires the department to consult the director of emergency management and homeland security on grant criteria and award decisions.
• Section 1 excludes hospitals that already have a generator or received federal funds for one, and lets the department set award amounts case by case.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it becomes law without his signature.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-05-11Effective Date 2026-05-11
2. 2026-05-11Act 487
3. 2026-05-11Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2026-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2026-03-20House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
6. 2026-02-09Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub As Amended (Senate)
7. 2025-03-31House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
8. 2025-03-31House Third Readers (House)

• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)Primary sponsor
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Angie O'Steen (R, HD-169)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2025

   50 yea, 2 nay (3 not voting, 1 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #219

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 31, 2025

   165 yea, 3 nay (3 not voting, 9 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #351

3. PassedSenate voteJanuary 28, 2026

   27 yea, 22 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)

   Agree To House Substitute: Senate Vote #504

4. PassedSenate voteFebruary 9, 2026

   50 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 4 absent)

   Agree To House Substitute As Amended: Senate Vote #531

5. PassedHouse voteMarch 20, 2026

   158 yea, 0 nay (7 not voting, 11 absent)

   Agree To Senate Amendment To House Sub: House Vote #737

• rural hospitals
• emergency preparedness
• state grants
• health care funding