---
title: SB 111. "Georgia Consumer Privacy Protection Act"; enact
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb111
cite_as: SB 111, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb111
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb111.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb111/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69990
date: 2026-05-11
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.
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 1385
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb111.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 111
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-05-11
last_action: Effective Date 2026-07-01
sponsors:
- John Albers
- Max Burns
- Sheikh Rahman
- Shawn Still
- Ed Setzler
- Chuck Payne
- Randy Robertson
- Angie O'Steen
text_version: Enrolled
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB111/2025
upstream_id: 1958430
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- rural hospitals
- hospital tax credits
- health care funding
- Medicaid and Medicare
- indigent care
---
# SB 111. "Georgia Consumer Privacy Protection Act"; enact
## Text
Senate Bill 111
By: Senators Albers of the 56th, Burns of the 23rd, Rahman of the 5th, Still of the 48th,
Setzler of the 37th and others
AS PASSED
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Code Section 31-8-9.1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to tax
credit for contributions to certain rural hospital organizations and hospital eligibility and
requirements, so as to revise the definition of "rural hospital organization"; to provide for
related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Code Section 31-8-9.1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to tax credit for
contributions to certain rural hospital organizations and hospital eligibility and requirements,
is amended by revising paragraph (3) of subsection (a) as follows:
"(3) 'Rural hospital organization' means an acute care hospital or rural freestanding
emergency department licensed by the department pursuant to Article 1 of Chapter 7 of
this title that:
(A) Has its primary campus Provides inpatient hospital services at a facility located in
a rural county or is a critical access hospital;
(B) Participates in both Medicaid and medicare Medicare and accepts both Medicaid
and medicare Medicare patients;
(C) Provides health care services to indigent patients;
(D) Is licensed by the department to provide maternal and newborn services or has Has
at least 10 5 percent of its annual net revenue categorized as indigent care, charity care,
or bad debt;
(E) Annually files IRS Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax,
with the department, or for any hospital not required to file IRS Form 990, the
department will provide a form that collects the same information to be submitted to the
department on an annual basis;
(F) Is operated by a county or municipal authority pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 7
of this title or is designated as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code; and
(G) Is current with all audits and reports required by law; and
(H) Has a three-year average patient margin, as a percent of expense, less than one
standard deviation above the state-wide three-year average of organizations defined in
subparagraphs (A) through (G) of this paragraph, as calculated by the department. As
used in this subparagraph, the term 'patient margin' means gross patient revenues less
contractual adjustments, bad debt, indigent and charity care, other uncompensated care,
and total expenses."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia Senate bill would change which hospitals qualify as "rural hospital organizations" for the state's rural hospital tax credit program, despite being titled the "Georgia Consumer Privacy Protection Act."
### Plain-language summary
This bill's text does not match its title. Although labeled the "Georgia Consumer Privacy Protection Act," the actual content amends Georgia's rural hospital tax credit law (O.C.G.A. § 31-8-9.1), which lets taxpayers get a state tax credit for donating to qualifying rural hospitals.
The bill broadens the definition of a qualifying "rural hospital organization" to include rural freestanding emergency departments, not just acute care hospitals. It changes the location test so a hospital qualifies if its primary campus, not necessarily where it provides inpatient services, is in a rural county or if it is a critical access hospital. It lowers the required share of indigent, charity, or bad debt revenue from 10 percent to 5 percent, or lets a hospital qualify instead by being licensed for maternal and newborn services. It also removes a requirement that hospitals keep their three-year average patient margin below a certain statewide benchmark.
### What it does
- Expands the tax credit program to cover rural freestanding emergency departments in addition to acute care hospitals.
- Changes the rural-location requirement so it depends on where a hospital's primary campus sits, rather than where it delivers inpatient services.
- Lowers the indigent/charity/bad-debt revenue threshold from 10 percent to 5 percent of annual net revenue, or allows qualification via maternal and newborn service licensing instead.
- Removes the prior requirement that a hospital's three-year average patient margin stay below a statewide benchmark to remain eligible.
### Who it affects
Rural hospitals and rural freestanding emergency departments in Georgia that want to qualify for donor tax credits, taxpayers who donate to these facilities to claim the credit, the Georgia Department of Community Health, which certifies eligibility, and patients served by these rural facilities.
### Why it matters
By loosening eligibility rules, more rural hospitals and emergency departments could qualify for the tax credit program, potentially drawing more donor tax credit contributions to rural health care in Georgia. Some facilities that previously failed the patient margin or revenue thresholds could now qualify.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 revises paragraph (3) of subsection (a) in O.C.G.A. § 31-8-9.1, the definition section for 'rural hospital organization.'
- Adds rural freestanding emergency departments as an eligible facility type alongside acute care hospitals.
- Subparagraph (A) shifts the rural-location test to the hospital's primary campus location rather than where inpatient services are provided.
- Subparagraph (D) reduces the indigent/charity/bad-debt revenue threshold from 10 percent to 5 percent, or allows qualification through maternal and newborn service licensure.
- Removes former subparagraph (H), which had required a hospital's three-year average patient margin to stay below a statewide benchmark.
- Section 2 repeals conflicting laws, a standard closing provision.
## Status
- Status: Passed (2026-05-11)
- Last action: Effective Date 2026-07-01 (2026-05-11)
- Sponsors: John Albers, Max Burns, Sheikh Rahman, Shawn Still, Ed Setzler, Chuck Payne, Randy Robertson, Angie O'Steen
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69990
> The history, votes, and amendments (1,385 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb111.md?full=1