HB 657: Mental health; qualifications of recovery community organizations for substance use; provide

HB 657 is a wide-ranging cleanup bill touching five titles of Georgia law. Most of Part I repeals or 'reserves' provisions that Georgia's Department of Public Health says are outdated or unfunded: the Electronic Database Review Advisory Committee for the prescription drug monitoring program, mandatory AIDS and sickle cell disease brochures for marriage license applicants, a home visitation pilot program for pregnant women, the Cancer Advisory Committee and cancer control officer position, the Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Education Act, the Georgia Commission for Saving the Cure, the Arthritis Prevention and Control Program, and the tax form checkbox for stem cell research donations. It also loosens the state's prescription drug monitoring rules by removing a requirement that regulatory boards certify the database is 99.5 percent operational before penalties apply. Part II adds a new section requiring the department to certify peer support specialists and sets qualifications for organizations that support people recovering from substance use disorders, including a requirement to designate one statewide coordinating organization. The changes take effect July 1, 2026.

• Repeals or 'reserves' (empties out) more than a dozen Georgia public health programs and advisory bodies, including the Cancer Advisory Committee, the cancer control officer position, and the Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Education Act.
• Removes the requirement that mandatory AIDS/HIV, sickle cell disease, and marriage manual brochures be given to marriage license applicants through probate courts.
• Eliminates the Electronic Database Review Advisory Committee and the requirement that the state certify the prescription drug monitoring database as 99.5 percent operational before penalties for skipping it apply.
• Repeals the Georgia Commission for Saving the Cure and the related income tax checkoff for donating to stem cell research, while allowing (but no longer requiring) a network of postnatal tissue and fluid banks.
• Creates a new law (O.C.G.A. § 37-1-8) requiring the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to certify peer support specialists and setting standards for organizations that help people recover from substance use disorders.
• Transfers duties over home delivered meals and preschool programs for children with special needs from the Department of Community Health to the Department of Public Health, and ties several existing reporting duties to available state funding.

The bill affects the Department of Public Health, probate court staff who issue marriage licenses, prescribers who use the prescription drug monitoring database, hospitals reporting on newborn hearing screenings and stroke care, cancer patients and cancer treatment programs, taxpayers who previously donated to stem cell research on their tax forms, and people working in or seeking substance use disorder peer support and recovery services.

Marriage license applicants would no longer automatically receive state-prepared health brochures, several advisory committees and specialized health programs would disappear, and prescribers would face fewer certification hurdles tied to the drug monitoring database. Meanwhile, peer support workers and recovery organizations for substance use disorders would face new state certification and qualification standards.

• Section 1-1 removes a rule letting regulatory boards rescind old penalties for not enrolling in the prescription drug monitoring program and drops a requirement that the database be certified 99.5 percent operational.
• Section 1-2 eliminates the 12-member Electronic Database Review Advisory Committee that advised on the prescription monitoring database.
• Sections 1-4 through 1-6 repeal requirements that probate courts distribute AIDS/HIV brochures, sickle cell disease information, and a marriage manual to marriage license applicants.
• Section 1-9 repeals the pilot program for home visitation services during pregnancy and early childhood.
• Sections 1-14 through 1-16 eliminate the Cancer Advisory Committee and the cancer control officer position, and revise the commissioner's cancer program duties, including replacing a certified-clinic system with a statewide cancer diagnosis registry.
• Section 1-17 repeals the Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Education Act; Section 1-20 repeals the Arthritis Prevention and Control Program.
• Sections 1-18, 1-19, and 1-21 repeal most of the Georgia Commission for Saving the Cure's structure and duties and remove the income tax checkoff for stem cell research donations, while keeping voluntary postnatal tissue and fluid banking.
• Section 2-1 adds O.C.G.A. § 37-1-8, requiring department certification of peer specialists and setting eight qualifications for recovery community organizations, plus a state designation of one statewide coordinating organization, subject to appropriations.

1. 2026-03-31Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
2. 2026-03-31Senate Third Read (Senate)
3. 2026-03-27Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
4. 2026-03-27Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
5. 2026-02-10Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
6. 2026-02-09House Passed/Adopted (House)
7. 2026-02-09House Third Readers (House)
8. 2026-02-04House Committee Favorably Reported (House)

• Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)Primary sponsor
• Katie Dempsey (R, HD-013)
• Mike Cameron (R, HD-001)
• Debbie Buckner (D, HD-137)
• Inga Willis (D, HD-055)
• Matthew Gambill (R, HD-015)
• Matt Brass (R, SD-006)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 9, 2026

   165 yea, 2 nay (1 not voting, 7 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #488

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   47 yea, 1 nay (3 not voting, 3 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #906

• public health programs
• substance use recovery
• peer support specialists
• prescription drug monitoring
• cancer programs