SB411: SB411 Professions and Businesses; dry needling to be performed by certain licensed professionals; provide

This substitute version of SB 411 does two unrelated things. First, it rewrites part of the law governing Georgia's tax credit for donations to rural hospitals (O.C.G.A. § 31-8-9.1), changing the definition of a qualifying 'rural hospital organization.' The revised definition focuses on whether a hospital provides inpatient services in a rural county or is a critical access hospital, lowers the indigent care revenue threshold from 10 percent to 5 percent (or requires the hospital to be licensed for maternal and newborn services), and adds a new requirement tied to the hospital's three-year average patient margin compared to the statewide average. Second, the bill creates an entirely new state certification system for community health workers. It establishes the Georgia Community Health Worker Certification Committee under the Department of Public Health, sets training and background check requirements, and lays out how workers and training programs get certified or approved. The community health worker provisions only take effect if the General Assembly specifically appropriates funding for them; the rest of the bill takes effect July 1, 2026.

• Revises the legal definition of 'rural hospital organization' used for Georgia's rural hospital tax credit program, changing eligibility criteria such as location, indigent care percentage, and financial performance measures.
• Creates the Georgia Community Health Worker Certification Committee, an 11-member body appointed by the Commissioner of Public Health, to oversee certification standards.
• Requires community health workers to complete an approved training program and 2,000 hours of employment, pass a criminal background check, and meet other requirements to use the title 'certified community health worker.'
• Sets up an approval process for training programs, requiring 45 hours of core competency training including 16 hours on specific health topics.
• Provides for the committee to be abolished on June 30, 2030, with its powers transferring to the Department of Public Health.
• Makes the community health worker certification system effective only if the legislature separately appropriates money to fund it.

Rural and critical access hospitals seeking the state's rural hospital tax credit, donors to those hospitals, community health workers currently or seeking to work in Georgia, employers of community health workers such as hospitals and community organizations, and the Department of Public Health, which would administer the new certification program.

Changing the rural hospital organization definition could shift which hospitals qualify for tax-credit-funded donations, affecting hospital finances in rural Georgia. The new certification system would formalize community health worker credentials statewide, but only if lawmakers fund it, meaning the practical impact depends on future budget decisions.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 31-8-9.1(a)(3), changing rural hospital organization qualifications including a new patient margin comparison to the statewide average.
• Section 2 adds a new Chapter 31 to Title 31 of the Georgia Code establishing definitions, the certification committee, and its powers, including rulemaking and disciplinary authority.
• Section 2 requires certified community health workers to be at least 18, hold a high school diploma or equivalent, pass background checks, and complete training and 2,000 hours of work experience.
• Section 2 sets certificates and training program approvals to last up to two years and expire biennially unless renewed.
• Section 3 makes the bill effective July 1, 2026, except that the community health worker certification provisions (Section 2) take effect only if the General Assembly appropriates specific funding for them.
• Section 4 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-04-02House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-04-02House Third Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-25House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
4. 2026-03-16House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
5. 2026-03-10House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
6. 2026-02-11House Second Readers (House)
7. 2026-02-10House First Readers (House)
8. 2026-02-09Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)

• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)Primary sponsor
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)
• Lee Hawkins (R, HD-027)

1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 9, 2026

   49 yea, 2 nay (0 not voting, 3 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #530

2. PassedHouse voteApril 2, 2026

   166 yea, 5 nay (3 not voting, 2 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #855

• rural hospitals
• community health workers
• health care licensing
• tax credits
• public health