HB 262: Community Health, Department of; grant program for purpose of acquiring and installing backup generators; provide

Georgia currently has no dedicated state grant program to help rural hospitals pay for backup power equipment. House Bill 262 would add a new section to the state law governing the Department of Community Health (O.C.G.A. § 31-2-20) creating such a program. The grants would go to what the bill calls 'affected rural hospitals': acute care hospitals with fewer than 100 beds located in rural counties (population under 50,000, with military personnel excluded from that count) that lie in a region where the Governor declared a state of emergency after July 1, 2024. The Department of Community Health would work with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to set criteria and decide awards, prioritizing hospitals that currently lack generators or a way to install them. Funding depends on the General Assembly appropriating money or other funds becoming available, and grant amounts would be set case by case. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.

• Creates a new grant program inside the Department of Community Health to fund backup generators for qualifying rural hospitals.
• Limits eligibility to acute care hospitals under 100 beds in rural counties located in regions with a gubernatorial emergency declaration after July 1, 2024.
• Requires the department to consult with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to set grant criteria and make award decisions.
• Directs the department and emergency management agency to prioritize hospitals that lack generators or the means to install them.
• Lets the department set grant amounts individually for each hospital rather than a fixed statewide amount.
• Ties the entire program to available state funding, meaning it only operates if the General Assembly appropriates money or other funds exist.

Small rural hospitals with fewer than 100 beds in counties with populations under 50,000, especially those in areas hit by a declared state of emergency since July 1, 2024. It also involves the Department of Community Health and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, which would jointly run the program.

Rural hospitals without reliable backup power can be forced to shut down or transfer patients during storms or other emergencies. This bill would give some of these hospitals a path to state funding for generators, potentially improving their ability to keep treating patients when the power grid fails.

• Section 1 adds new Code Section 31-2-20 defining 'affected rural hospital' as an under-100-bed acute care hospital in a rural county under emergency declaration after July 1, 2024.
• Section 1 defines 'rural county' as one with under 50,000 people per the 2020 census, excluding military personnel and dependents on a base from that count.
• Section 1 requires the Department of Community Health, in consultation with the director of emergency management and homeland security, to set grant criteria and decide awards.
• Section 1 directs prioritization of hospitals lacking backup generators or the means to install them, and lets the department set award amounts case by case.
• Section 1 makes the whole program contingent on funding: it operates 'subject to appropriations by the General Assembly or other available funding.'
• Section 2 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it otherwise becomes law without signature.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-03-04Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-03-03House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
3. 2025-03-03House Third Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-27House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
5. 2025-02-21House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
6. 2025-02-20House Postponed (House)
7. 2025-02-13House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2025-02-06House Second Readers (House)

• Angie O'Steen (R, HD-169)Primary sponsor
• James Burchett (R, HD-176)
• Joe Campbell (R, HD-171)
• John Corbett (R, HD-174)
• John LaHood (R, HD-175)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 3, 2025

   173 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 5 excused)

   PASSAGE: House Vote #146

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