SR311: SR311 Senate Study Committee on Recovery Residences; create

Recovery residences are sober-living homes meant to help people recovering from addiction build life skills in a safe, home-like setting. According to the resolution, Georgia has an estimated 256 of these facilities, but they provide no treatment, are not regulated, and are not registered with the state, so their actual number and quality are unknown. Lawmakers say a lack of oversight raises concerns that some facilities could prioritize profit over resident safety. This resolution creates the Senate Study Committee on Recovery Residences, made up of five senators appointed by the President of the Senate plus the commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities or a designee. The committee will study conditions and problems at recovery residences and recommend action or legislation. It can meet as needed, legislative members get standard per diem allowances, and the committee must file any findings before it is abolished on December 1, 2025.

• Creates the Senate Study Committee on Recovery Residences to examine sober-living homes for people recovering from addiction.
• Sets committee membership at five senators appointed by the Senate President, plus the commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities or a designee.
• Directs the committee to study problems at recovery residences and recommend legislation or other action.
• Provides legislative members standard travel and per diem allowances under O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8, capped at five days unless additional days are approved.
• Requires any approved findings or legislative recommendations to be filed with the Secretary of the Senate before the committee is abolished.
• Abolishes the committee on December 1, 2025, unless a report or meeting minutes are filed by then.

The resolution directly affects members of the Georgia Senate appointed to the committee, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, and by extension the roughly 256 recovery residences operating in Georgia and the people in addiction recovery who live in them.

Because recovery residences are currently unregulated and unregistered in Georgia, the state has little insight into their safety or quality. This committee's work could lead to future oversight rules affecting how these homes operate and how residents in recovery are protected.

• Paragraph (1) creates the Senate Study Committee on Recovery Residences.
• Paragraph (2) sets membership at five senators plus the commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities or designee, with the Senate President naming a chairperson.
• Paragraph (3) charges the committee with studying recovery residence conditions and recommending needed action or legislation.
• Paragraph (5) covers allowances and expenses, funded from the Senate's existing appropriated funds, capped at five days absent added authorization.
• Paragraph (6) requires the chairperson to file any approved report of findings or recommended legislation with the Secretary of the Senate.
• Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2025.

1. 2025-04-02Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
2. 2025-03-28Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
3. 2025-03-28Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
4. 2025-03-20Senate Withdrawn & Recommitted (Senate)
5. 2025-03-03Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
6. 2025-02-28Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)Primary sponsor
• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Blake Tillery (R, SD-019)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)

1. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2025

   52 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 1 absent)

   Consent Calendar For Senate Study Committees: Senate Vote #380

• addiction recovery
• sober living homes
• health policy
• legislative study committees