SR 1051: Senate Study Committee on Comprehensive Services and Long-term Outcomes for Individuals with Disabilities; create

Georgia offers many programs for people with disabilities, but families report trouble finding and accessing them because of fragmented systems, complicated applications, and long delays, especially for Medicaid waiver programs. This resolution creates the Senate Study Committee on Comprehensive Services and Long-term Outcomes for Individuals with Disabilities to look into these problems. The five-member committee, appointed by the President of the Senate, would study topics including access barriers, transitions from school to adulthood, the NOW and COMP Medicaid waiver waiting lists, workforce shortages among care providers, family caregiver burdens, and long-term planning issues like housing and guardianship. It would also examine how well students with disabilities are integrated into general education. The committee can recommend legislation, must file any approved report before it disbands, and is set to be abolished on December 1, 2026.

• Creates a five-member Senate Study Committee on Comprehensive Services and Long-term Outcomes for Individuals with Disabilities, appointed by the President of the Senate.
• Directs the committee to study access barriers, application delays, and coordination gaps across state agencies serving people with disabilities.
• Requires examination of the NOW and COMP Medicaid waiver programs, including waiting lists and workforce shortages among care providers.
• Assigns the committee to study long-term planning issues like housing, guardianship, special needs trusts, and continuity of care for aging caregivers.
• Sets legislative per diem allowances for committee members under O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8, capped at five days unless more are authorized.
• Abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026, requiring any approved findings or legislative recommendations to be filed before that date.

People with disabilities and their families in Georgia, state agencies including the Department of Education, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, the Department of Community Health, and the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, direct support professionals and other care providers, and the five senators appointed to the committee.

If created, the committee would give lawmakers a formal venue to investigate long-standing complaints about fragmented disability services, Medicaid waiver waiting lists, and gaps when young people age out of school-based support, potentially shaping future legislation on these issues.

• Paragraph 1 creates the Senate Study Committee on Comprehensive Services and Long-term Outcomes for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Paragraph 2 sets committee membership at five senators appointed by the President of the Senate, who also names the chairperson.
• Paragraph 3 lists ten study areas (A through J), including access barriers, Medicaid waivers, workforce shortages, family caregiver support, and long-term legal and financial planning.
• Paragraph 5 provides legislative allowances under O.C.G.A. § 28-1-8, limited to five days of pay unless additional days are authorized, funded from Senate appropriations.
• Paragraph 6 requires any approved report or legislative recommendations to be filed with the Secretary of the Senate before the committee's abolishment date.
• Paragraph 7 abolishes the committee on December 1, 2026.

1. 2026-03-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-03-25Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)Primary sponsor
• Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)

• disability services
• Medicaid waivers
• special education
• caregiver support
• long-term care planning