SB 158: Commission for Blind and Visually Disabled Persons; create

Georgia currently runs services for blind and visually impaired residents, including job training, independent living help, and the Georgia Industries for the Blind, through the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency. This bill would take those functions away from that agency and give them to a brand-new Commission for Blind and Visually Disabled Persons, effective July 1, 2025. The commission would have a chairperson and seven members appointed by the Governor, House Speaker, and Senate President, most of whom must be blind or visually impaired. It would run vocational rehabilitation, independent living services, a business enterprises vending program under the federal Randolph-Sheppard Act, deaf-blind services, and technology access programs. It would be housed inside the Department of Human Services for administrative purposes only. The bill also rewrites Georgia's vending facility law so the commission licenses blind vendors while the vocational rehabilitation agency continues licensing vendors with other disabilities, and it sets up a complaint and mediation process for people dissatisfied with commission services.

• Creates a new state agency, the Commission for Blind and Visually Disabled Persons, to take over blind-services programs from the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency starting July 1, 2025.
• Transfers direction and supervision of the Georgia Industries for the Blind, a state work program for blind employees, to the new commission.
• Sets up a seven-member commission plus chairperson, appointed by the Governor, House Speaker, and Senate President, mostly required to be blind or visually impaired.
• Splits vending facility licensing so the commission licenses blind vendors while the vocational rehabilitation agency licenses other people with disabilities.
• Requires the commission to oversee deaf-blind services, publish an annual report, and create a formal mediation and arbitration process for complaints.
• Repeals the existing deaf-blind services code section (O.C.G.A. § 49-9-21) and moves that duty to the new commission.

Blind and visually impaired Georgians who use vocational rehabilitation, independent living, or vending programs; deaf-blind individuals; employees of the Georgia Industries for the Blind; the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, which loses these functions; and state agencies that host vending facilities on their property.

If enacted, blind and visually impaired Georgians would get services from a separate commission with dedicated leadership rather than as part of a broader vocational rehabilitation agency. The change could affect how quickly services continue during the transition and who runs vending facility licensing and deaf-blind support programs.

• Section 1 transfers direction and supervision of Georgia Industries for the Blind from the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency to the new commission (O.C.G.A. § 30-2-3).
• Section 4 adds a new Chapter 11 to Title 30 creating the commission, defining 'blind or visually impaired,' and stating the commission's purpose and guiding principles.
• Section 4 (O.C.G.A. § 30-11-5) sets commission membership at a chairperson plus seven members with staggered three-year terms, requiring a majority to be blind or visually impaired and at least one deaf-blind member.
• Section 4 (O.C.G.A. § 30-11-7) lists the commission's duties, including vocational rehabilitation plans, a business enterprises program, an industries-for-the-blind program, and coordination with the Georgia Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled.
• Section 4 (O.C.G.A. § 30-11-9) requires the commission to oversee deaf-blind services and retain a specialized organization to provide training, subject to legislative funding.
• Section 4 (O.C.G.A. § 30-11-11) creates a complaint process with voluntary mediation and, if unresolved, a three-member arbitration panel.
• Section 5 amends O.C.G.A. § 49-9-5 so the vocational rehabilitation agency licenses vending facility operators with disabilities other than blindness.
• Section 6 repeals O.C.G.A. § 49-9-21, the current deaf-blind services provision, since that duty moves to the commission.

1. 2025-02-13Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-12Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)Primary sponsor
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Emanuel Jones (D, SD-010)
• Donzella James (D, SD-028)
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
• Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)
• Jason Esteves (D, SD-035)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• Josh McLaurin (D, SD-014)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)

• disability services
• blind and visually impaired
• state government reorganization
• vocational rehabilitation
• vending facilities