--- title: HR 847. House Study Committee on Evaluating Funding for Public Health; create collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hr847 cite_as: HR 847, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr847 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr847.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr847/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71848 date: 2025-04-04 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 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/hr846.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr848.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 467 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr847.md?full=1 bill_number: HR 847 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: resolution status_date: 2025-04-04 last_action: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute sponsors: - Darlene Taylor - James Hatchett - Katie Dempsey - Butch Parrish - Ron Stephens - Lee Hawkins text_version: Comm Sub has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HR847/2025 upstream_id: 2016609 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - public health funding - state budget - legislative study committee - Department of Public Health --- # HR 847. House Study Committee on Evaluating Funding for Public Health; create ## Text LC 52 0862S The House Committee on Rules offers the following substitute to HR 847: A RESOLUTION Creating the House Study Committee on Evaluating Funding for Public Health; and for other1 purposes.2 WHEREAS, Georgia's health security and financial well-being depend on a growing, fully3 funded state and local public health system; and4 WHEREAS, as the former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop onc e said, "Health care5 is vital to all us some of the time, but public health is vital to all of us all of the time"; and6 WHEREAS, increases in public health spending have been shown to reduce preventable7 deaths, and healthier communities support stronger economies; and8 WHEREAS, public health has historically been underfunded, specifically when compared9 with healthcare. In fact, less than one in every ten state gen eral fund dollars spent on10 Georgia's three primary health agencies goes to the Department of Public Health; and11 WHEREAS, additional support may be necessary to shape a state public health budget that12 contributes to a sustainable public health infrastructure; and13 - 1 - LC 52 0862S WHEREAS, it would be beneficial to study how Georgia's public health system is structured14 and funded and to evaluate what services such system currently provides to determine15 whether action by the state is necessary.16 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:17 (1) Creation of House study committee. There is created the House Study Committee18 on Evaluating Funding for Public Health.19 (2) Members and officers. The committee shall be composed of five members of the20 House of Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of21 Representatives. The Speaker shall designate a member of the committee as chairperson22 of the committee.23 (3) Powers and duties. The committee shall undertake a study of the conditions, needs,24 issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any action or25 legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate.26 (4) Meetings. The chairperson shall call all meetings of the committee. The committee27 may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem necessary or28 convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and29 accomplish the objectives and purposes of this resolution.30 (5) Allowances and funding.31 (A) The legislative members of the committee shall receive the allowances provided32 for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.33 (B) The allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any member34 of the committee for more than three days unless additional days are authorized. Funds35 necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds36 appropriated to the House of Representatives; except that funds for the reimbursement37 of the expenses of state officials, other than legislative memb e r s , a n d f o r t h e38 - 2 - LC 52 0862S reimbursement of the expenses of state employees shall come from funds appropriated39 to or otherwise available to their respective agencies.40 (6) Report.41 (A) In the event the committee adopts any specific findings or recommendations that42 include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file a report of the43 same prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolut ion, subject to44 subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.45 (B) In the event the committee adopts a report that does not i nclude suggestions for46 proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file the report, subject to subparagraph (C)47 of this paragraph.48 (C) No report shall be filed unless the same has been approved prior to the date of49 abolishment specified in this resolution by majority vote of a quorum of the committee.50 A report so approved shall be signed by the chairperson of the committee and filed with51 the Clerk of the House of Representatives.52 (D) In the absence of an approved report, the chairperson may file with the Clerk of the53 House of Representatives a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the committee in lieu54 thereof.55 (7) Abolishment. The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2025.56 - 3 - ## 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 House resolution would create a five-member study committee to examine how Georgia funds and structures its public health system, with a report due before the committee dissolves on December 1, 2025. ### Plain-language summary Georgia's public health system, run mainly through the Department of Public Health, has historically received a much smaller share of state health spending than other health agencies. This resolution responds to that by creating the House Study Committee on Evaluating Funding for Public Health. The Speaker of the House would appoint five House members to the committee and name one as chairperson. The committee would study how the state's public health system is organized and funded, what services it currently provides, and whether the state needs to take further action. It can hold meetings as needed, and legislative members can receive standard travel and expense allowances (O.C.G.A. ยง 28-1-8) for up to three days unless more are approved. Any findings or proposed legislation must be approved by majority vote and filed with the Clerk of the House before the committee is abolished on December 1, 2025. ### What it does - Creates the House Study Committee on Evaluating Funding for Public Health, made up of five House members appointed by the Speaker. - Directs the Speaker to designate one committee member as chairperson, who calls and organizes all meetings. - Charges the committee with studying how Georgia's public health system is structured and funded and what services it provides. - Allows legislative members to receive standard state travel and expense allowances for up to three meeting days, with more allowed if authorized. - Requires any approved findings or legislative recommendations to be filed as a report with the Clerk of the House before the committee ends. - Abolishes the committee automatically on December 1, 2025. ### Who it affects The bill directly affects members of the Georgia House of Representatives appointed to the committee, the Department of Public Health, and other state health agencies whose funding and structure would be studied. It could eventually affect Georgians who rely on public health services if the study leads to funding changes. ### Why it matters The committee itself changes no funding or programs, but its findings could shape future legislation on how much money Georgia's public health system receives compared to other health agencies, which affects services like disease prevention and community health programs statewide. ### Key provisions - Paragraph 1 creates the House Study Committee on Evaluating Funding for Public Health. - Paragraph 2 sets committee membership at five House members appointed by the Speaker, who also names the chairperson. - Paragraph 3 gives the committee power to study public health funding and structure and recommend action or legislation. - Paragraph 5 sets funding rules, capping paid allowances at three meeting days unless additional days are authorized, funded through the House of Representatives' budget. - Paragraph 6 requires any adopted report or legislative recommendations to be approved by majority vote and filed with the Clerk of the House. - Paragraph 7 abolishes the committee on December 1, 2025. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-04-04) - Last action: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (2025-04-04) - Sponsors: Darlene Taylor, James Hatchett, Katie Dempsey, Butch Parrish, Ron Stephens, Lee Hawkins - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71848 > The history, votes, and amendments (467 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr847.md?full=1