--- title: HR 145. Education and Public Health, Departments of; collaborate to prioritize the expansion of vision and hearing screenings at various grade levels; urge collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hr145 cite_as: HR 145, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr145 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr145.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr145/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69875 date: 2026-03-12 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr144.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr146.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 613 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr145.md?full=1 bill_number: HR 145 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: resolution status_date: 2026-03-12 last_action: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute sponsors: - Chris Erwin - Matt Dubnik - Mike Cheokas - Will Wade - Matt Barton - Bethany Ballard text_version: Comm Sub has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HR145/2025 upstream_id: 1955670 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - school health screenings - vision and hearing screening - student literacy - public health - education policy --- # HR 145. Education and Public Health, Departments of; collaborate to prioritize the expansion of vision and hearing screenings at various grade levels; urge ## Text House Resolution 145 (RULES COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE) By: Representatives Erwin of the 32nd, Dubnik of the 29th, Cheokas of the 151st, Wade of the 9th, Barton of the 5th, and others A RESOLUTION Urging the Department of Education and the Department of Public Health to collaborate and to prioritize the expansion of vision and hearing screenings at various grade levels to identify students with undiagnosed and untreated vision or hearing problems that may impede their acquisition of literacy skills; and for other purposes. WHEREAS, a significant percentage of school age children, approximately one-third, experience vision problems, yet for many of them the lack of vision screening and necessary follow-up diagnostic evaluations are impairing their ability to acquire literacy skills; and WHEREAS, hearing screening is only required as a newborn before hospital discharge and at entry into a school system, and vision screening is only required at entry into a school system; and WHEREAS, 8 percent of children have hearing loss between six and 19 years of age; and WHEREAS, there is a well documented direct link between vision and hearing health and the acquisition of literacy skills; and WHEREAS, Code Section 20-2-771 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated authorizes and requires the Department of Education to collaborate with public health authorities to address health related mandates for students; and WHEREAS, effective screening programs can identify vision and hearing impairments early, allowing timely interventions that support academic success and literacy development. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that: (1) The Department of Education and Department of Public Health are urged to collaborate in developing a comprehensive strategy and methods to expand vision and hearing screenings for students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first, third, fifth, and eighth grades, as well as for transfer students in all grade levels; and (2) Such comprehensive strategy and methods, once developed, shall be presented to the chairpersons of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Education and Youth Committee and the Georgia Council on Literacy to ensure alignment with state literacy goals. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to make appropriate copies of this resolution available for distribution to representatives of the Department of Education and the Department of Public Health. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia House resolution urges the Department of Education and the Department of Public Health to work together to expand vision and hearing screenings for students at several grade levels, to catch undiagnosed problems that can hurt reading skills. ### Plain-language summary Georgia currently requires hearing screening only at newborn hospital discharge and at school entry, and vision screening only at school entry. This resolution notes that about one-third of school age children have vision problems and 8 percent have hearing loss between ages six and 19, and that these problems can interfere with children learning to read. The resolution urges the Department of Education and the Department of Public Health to collaborate on a plan to expand vision and hearing screenings for students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first, third, fifth, and eighth grades, plus transfer students at any grade level. It asks that the resulting plan be presented to the House and Senate education committees and the Georgia Council on Literacy. As a resolution, it does not create a binding legal requirement; it expresses the House's position and directs the Clerk to distribute copies to the two departments. ### What it does - Urges the Department of Education and Department of Public Health to jointly develop a strategy to expand vision and hearing screenings. - Names specific grade levels for expanded screening: pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first, third, fifth, and eighth grades, plus transfer students at any grade. - Calls for the resulting screening strategy to be presented to the House Committee on Education, the Senate Education and Youth Committee, and the Georgia Council on Literacy. - Directs the Clerk of the House to distribute copies of the resolution to the two state departments. ### Who it affects Georgia public school students at the named grade levels and transfer students generally, along with the Department of Education, the Department of Public Health, local school systems that would carry out any expanded screenings, and the legislative education committees that would review the resulting plan. ### Why it matters If the departments act on this resolution, more Georgia students could be screened for vision and hearing problems at additional grade levels, potentially catching undiagnosed issues that affect reading and academic performance earlier than current law requires, since screening is now mandated mainly at school entry. ### Key provisions - Cites O.C.G.A. ยง 20-2-771 as existing authority requiring the Department of Education to collaborate with public health authorities on student health mandates. - Resolution clause (1) urges the two departments to develop a comprehensive strategy to expand screenings at pre-K through eighth grade and for transfer students. - Resolution clause (2) requires the completed strategy to be presented to specified House and Senate committees and the Georgia Council on Literacy. - Directs the Clerk of the House to distribute copies of the resolution to representatives of both departments. ## Status - Status: Passed (2026-03-12) - Last action: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (2026-03-12) - Sponsors: Chris Erwin, Matt Dubnik, Mike Cheokas, Will Wade, Matt Barton, Bethany Ballard - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69875 > The history, votes, and amendments (613 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr145.md?full=1