HR 1655: House Study Committee on Diabetes Related Amputations; create

Georgia has high rates of diabetes, peripheral artery disease, and diabetic foot complications, which can lead to preventable amputations, especially in underserved and rural communities. This resolution creates the House Study Committee on Diabetes Related Amputations to look into why this is happening and what can be done about it. The committee would have 13 members appointed by the Speaker of the House: six state representatives and seven others including medical school representatives, an endocrinologist, a Department of Community Health representative, a federally qualified health center representative, and two diabetes patients. The committee can meet up to four times, must study care gaps and prevention strategies, and can recommend legislation. It must file a report before it is abolished on December 1, 2026, and that report must be made public.

• Creates a 13-member House Study Committee on Diabetes Related Amputations appointed by the Speaker of the House.
• Directs the committee to analyze statewide data on diabetes related amputations and evaluate prevention strategies and care coordination.
• Allows the committee to meet no more than four times and requires it to be disbanded on December 1, 2026.
• Sets per-day expense allowances for committee members under existing state law (O.C.G.A. §§ 28-1-8 and 45-7-21) rather than creating new pay.
• Requires any approved committee report, including proposed legislation, to be filed with the Clerk of the House and made publicly available.

Georgia state representatives appointed to the committee, medical and public health school representatives, endocrinologists, staff of the Department of Community Health, federally qualified health centers, and diabetes patients invited to serve, as well as Georgians affected by diabetes-related limb loss more broadly.

The committee's findings could shape future legislation on diabetes care, insurance coverage, and access to treatment aimed at preventing amputations. For now, the resolution itself creates no new rights, funding programs, or requirements beyond studying the issue and reporting back.

• Paragraph (1) creates the House Study Committee on Diabetes Related Amputations.
• Paragraph (2) sets membership at 13: six House members plus seven specified non-legislator members, with the Speaker naming the chairperson.
• Paragraph (3) charges the committee with studying the issue and recommending action or legislation it deems necessary.
• Paragraph (4) limits the committee to no more than four meetings, called by the chairperson.
• Paragraph (5) sets expense allowances for legislative members, state officials, state employees, and other members, capped at four days of allowances unless extended.
• Paragraph (6) requires any approved findings or report to be filed with the Clerk of the House before the committee is abolished.
• Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026.
• A further resolved clause requires the final report to be made publicly available.

1. 2026-03-18House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
2. 2026-03-16House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-12House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-03-10House Hopper (House)

• Lee Hawkins (R, HD-027)Primary sponsor
• Danny Mathis (R, HD-133)
• Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
• Darlene Taylor (R, HD-173)
• Michelle Au (D, HD-050)
• Karlton Howard (D, HD-129)

• diabetes
• public health
• amputation prevention
• health care access
• legislative study committees