SB 170: Georgia Interagency Council for the Homeless; create

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Discussed in meetings (6)

The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.

1. Senate floor session, January 16, 2026 (legislative day 5)

   From 1:05:00 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The bill's sponsor gave notice of an intention to ask the Senate to consider House action on SB 170 on the next legislative day. The clerk read the caption, which described creating the Georgia Interagency Council for the Homeless and setting its purpose, membership, duties, reporting requirements and compensation. No debate or vote on the bill followed.

2. Senate floor session, January 27, 2026 (legislative day 7)

   From 1:59:01 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The minority leader first attempted to give notice of plans to seek consideration of House action on SB 170, but the chair said that notice belonged later in the session. The minority leader subsequently gave the notice again for the next legislative day. The clerk read the description, which said the bill would create the Georgia Interagency Council for the Homeless and establish its membership, duties, reporting requirements and compensation provisions. No consideration of the House changes or vote on them occurred in the transcript.

3. Senate floor session, January 28, 2026 (legislative day 8)

   From 2:14:01 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor moved to agree to the House substitute to SB 170. The clerk described the original bill as creating a homelessness council and the substitute as establishing grants for certain rural hospitals to acquire or install backup generators for emergencies. The sponsor said the House replaced the original proposal and emphasized that grants would depend on lawmakers providing funding. One senator who worked in a hospital asked how many hospitals lacked generators. The sponsor had no list. That senator said the number appeared to be zero and questioned whether the proposal addressed an existing problem. A second senator said federal law already required generators and asked why the bill was not redundant. The sponsor said it would make state funding available if rural hospitals needed assistance. The chair announced 27 votes in favor and 22 against, insufficient for passage, although the announcement mistakenly named the preceding bill. The sponsor sought reconsideration, but the chair ruled it out of order and said the motion to agree could be attempted only once.

4. Senate floor session, February 6, 2026 (legislative day 14)

   From 1:35:31 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: A senator gave notice of an intention to move on the next legislative day for the Senate to consider House action on SB 170. The clerk then read the bill's description, which called for creating the Georgia Interagency Council for the Homeless and setting its purpose, membership, duties and reporting requirements. No debate or vote on the House action occurred during this session.

5. Senate floor session, February 9, 2026 (legislative day 15)

   From 1:41:11 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub As Amended)

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The senator presenting the motion said the House had replaced SB 170’s proposed homelessness council with grants for rural hospital backup generators. The senator supported the grants but said the replacement had not been reviewed by a Senate committee or through the appropriations process. The senator said Georgia had received more than $200 million annually for five years for rural health and urged using available federal funding. The senator described eligible hospitals as having fewer than 100 beds in counties with populations of 50,000 or less. Amendment one would recognize federal funding and limit grants to hospitals lacking generators when the act takes effect and not already receiving federal assistance for that purpose. Asked whether applying for federal funds would disqualify a hospital, the senator said only receiving that assistance would. Amendment 1A would limit eligibility to nonprofit or not-for-profit hospitals. Another senator urged attention to homelessness, and the presenter supported addressing it in separate legislation. Amendment 1A was adopted without objection. After the vote, the chair announced agreement to the House substitute as amended, 50-0.

6. House floor session, March 20, 2026 (legislative day 35)

   From 2:37:22 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub)

   Summary by Georgia Commons: A member moved for the House to agree to the Senate amendment to the House substitute for SB 170. The clerk read a caption describing creation of the Georgia Interagency Council for the Homeless. The presenting member instead discussed hospital generators, saying Hurricane Helene had left the member's local hospital without power for almost five days and another hospital without power for seven days. The member urged passage so hospitals could maintain care during future disasters and connected the effort to a recent family bereavement. The member referred colleagues to a written explanation but did not explain the amendment's specific changes aloud. The House agreed to the Senate amendment, 158 to 0.

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