---
title: SB 170. Georgia Interagency Council for the Homeless; create
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb170
cite_as: SB 170, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb170
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb170.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb170/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70340
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: 1943
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb170.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 170
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-05-11
last_action: Effective Date 2026-05-11
sponsors:
- Kim Jackson
- Randy Robertson
- Carden Summers
- Sonya Halpern
- Angie O'Steen
text_version: Enrolled
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB170/2025
upstream_id: 1970331
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- rural hospitals
- emergency preparedness
- hospital funding
- state grants
- disaster response
---
# SB 170. Georgia Interagency Council for the Homeless; create
## Text
Senate Bill 170
By: Senators Jackson of the 41st, Robertson of the 29th, Summers of the 13th and Halpern
of the 39th
AS PASSED
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 2 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the
Department of Community Health, so as to provide for a grant program for the purpose of
providing funding to certain rural hospitals for acquiring or installing backup generators to
ensure continuity of operation during a state of emergency; to provide that the department
shall consult with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency in
establishing grant criteria; to provide for the department to establish grant amounts; to
provide for definitions; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to
repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 2 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Department
of Community Health, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"31-2-20.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Affected rural hospital' means a non-profit or not for profit acute care hospital
located in a rural county that contains fewer than 100 beds and is located in any region
of the state in which the Governor declared a state of emergency after July 1, 2024.
(2) 'Rural county' means a county in this state that has a population of less than 50,000
according to the United States decennial census of 2020 or any future such census;
provided, however, that for counties which contain a military base or installation, the
military personnel and their dependents living in such county shall be excluded from the
total population of such county for purposes of this definition.
(b) Subject to appropriations by the General Assembly or other available funding,
including, but not limited to, federal funding, the department shall establish a grant
program to provide funding to affected rural hospitals for the purpose of acquiring,
installing, or both acquiring and installing backup generators to ensure continuity of
operation during a state of emergency. The department, in consultation with the director
of emergency management and homeland security shall establish grant criteria and make
award decisions; provided, however, that the department and the director of emergency
management and homeland security shall only provide funding to those affected rural
hospitals that do not have a backup generator as of the effective date of this Act and have
not received any federal assistance for the purpose of acquiring or installing a backup
generator. The department shall be authorized to establish the grant amount awarded to
each recipient on a case-by-case basis."
SECTION 2.
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law
without such approval.
SECTION 3.
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 create a grant program at the Department of Community Health to help small rural hospitals in disaster areas buy or install backup generators, though the bill's official title references a homelessness council unrelated to this text.
### Plain-language summary
This bill amends Georgia's health code (O.C.G.A. Title 31, Chapter 2) to add a new grant program run by the Department of Community Health. The program would help pay for backup generators at certain rural hospitals so they can keep operating during declared states of emergency.
To qualify, a hospital must be a nonprofit acute care facility with fewer than 100 beds, located in a rural county (population under 50,000 by the 2020 census, not counting military personnel), and in a region where the Governor declared a state of emergency after July 1, 2024. The hospital cannot already have a backup generator or have received federal funding for one. The department must consult with the state's emergency management agency to set grant criteria and can decide funding amounts case by case. Funding depends on money being appropriated by the General Assembly or coming from other sources like federal funds. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.
### What it does
- Creates a new grant program inside the Department of Community Health to fund backup generators for eligible rural hospitals during emergencies.
- Limits eligibility to nonprofit acute care hospitals with under 100 beds in rural counties under 50,000 population that were in a state of emergency declared after July 1, 2024.
- Excludes hospitals that already have a backup generator or have already received federal money for one.
- Requires the department to consult with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency when setting grant rules and awarding funds.
- Gives the department authority to set grant amounts individually for each hospital rather than a fixed statewide amount.
- Makes the program dependent on funding being appropriated by the General Assembly or coming from other available sources, including federal funds.
### Who it affects
Small rural hospitals in Georgia counties with fewer than 50,000 residents, particularly those without backup power and located in areas that have had a state of emergency since mid-2024; the Department of Community Health, which runs the program; and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, which helps set criteria.
### Why it matters
If enacted, rural hospitals that currently lack backup power could get state funding to install generators, helping them stay open during hurricanes, storms, or other emergencies when the power grid fails. This targets hospitals that have not already received federal help for the same purpose.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 adds a new Code section, O.C.G.A. ยง 31-2-20, defining 'affected rural hospital' and 'rural county' for purposes of the grant program.
- Section 1 requires the hospital to be nonprofit, have fewer than 100 beds, and be in a region under a gubernatorial emergency declaration after July 1, 2024.
- Section 1 excludes counties' military personnel and dependents when calculating whether a county qualifies as rural under the 50,000-population threshold.
- Section 1 directs the Department of Community Health to consult with the director of emergency management and homeland security to set grant criteria and make award decisions.
- Section 1 restricts funding to hospitals without an existing backup generator that have not received prior federal assistance for one.
- Section 1 makes the grant amount for each hospital a case-by-case decision by the department.
- Section 1 conditions the whole program on funding being appropriated by the General Assembly or available from other sources such as federal funds.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it otherwise becomes law.
## Status
- Status: Passed (2026-05-11)
- Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-11 (2026-05-11)
- Sponsors: Kim Jackson, Randy Robertson, Carden Summers, Sonya Halpern, Angie O'Steen
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70340
> The history, votes, and amendments (1,943 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb170.md?full=1