SB555: SB555 War Veterans Home; the admission of eligible nonveteran residents to a Georgia War Veterans' Home under certain circumstances; authorize

Currently, admission to the Georgia War Veterans' Nursing Home and the Georgia State War Veterans' Home is limited to war veterans who meet state residency rules. This bill would create a new category called an 'eligible nonveteran resident,' defined as a spouse of a war veteran or a parent whose child died while serving in the armed forces. These individuals could be admitted under specific conditions, but veterans keep first priority for beds, and nonveteran admissions cannot displace or delay a veteran. Nonveteran residents would generally have to pay privately at full cost of care, and their total numbers are capped at 25 percent of a facility's beds (or lower if federal certification requires it). A second part of the bill amends laws on powers of attorney, guardianship, conservatorship, and health care directives so that an agent, guardian, conservator, or health care agent can keep limited authority after the person they represented dies, solely to finish an application for public benefits and handle related hearings or appeals. That authority ends once a court-appointed representative takes over. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026.

• Creates a new admission category, 'eligible nonveteran resident,' covering spouses of war veterans and parents whose children died in military service, letting them live in a Georgia War Veterans' Home under set conditions.
• Requires war veterans to keep first priority for admission, waitlisting, and bed assignment over nonveteran residents.
• Caps eligible nonveteran residents at the lesser of 25 percent of total beds, any lower share needed for Veterans Administration certification, or a lower limit set by the Veterans Service Board.
• Requires nonveteran residents to pay privately for care at rates no less than the full cost of care, unless they qualify for other coverage.
• Allows powers of attorney, guardians, conservators, and health care agents to keep limited authority after a person's death solely to complete a public benefits application and pursue related hearings or appeals.
• Terminates that after-death authority once a court appoints a formal administrator, personal representative, or authorized representative for the deceased person's estate.

Spouses of war veterans and parents of service members killed in action, who could gain access to a Georgia War Veterans' Home; current and prospective veteran residents, whose priority is protected; the Department of Veterans Service and Veterans Service Board, which set rules and rates; and agents under powers of attorney, guardians, conservators, and health care agents handling public benefits paperwork after someone dies.

Families of veterans who died in service or spouses of living veterans could gain a path into state veterans' homes that does not currently exist, while veterans retain guaranteed priority for beds. Separately, families and caregivers finishing a deceased relative's benefits paperwork would no longer lose that authority automatically at death, potentially avoiding delays in public benefits claims.

• Section 1-1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 38-4-55 to define 'eligible nonveteran resident' and 'Georgia War Veterans' Home,' and sets residency requirements (two years immediately prior, or five of the last 15 years) for admission.
• Subsection (c) gives war veterans first priority for admission, waitlisting, and bed assignment, barring nonveteran admissions that would displace or delay an admissible veteran.
• Subsection (d) lets the Veterans Service Board admit a spouse specifically to share a room with the veteran spouse, as long as it doesn't reduce veteran bed availability below occupancy targets.
• Subsection (e) caps aggregate nonveteran census at 25 percent of operational beds, subject to lower limits for Veterans Administration certification or board rules.
• Subsections (i) and (j) require nonveteran residents to pay privately at rates set annually by the Department of Veterans Service, no less than the full cost of care.
• Sections 2-1 through 2-5 amend Titles 10, 29, 31, and 50 to let agents, guardians, conservators, and health care agents continue as 'authorized representatives' after a person's death solely to complete public benefits applications and related hearings or appeals, ending when a court appoints an estate representative.
• Section 3-1 sets an effective date of July 1, 2026.

1. 2026-03-25House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-03-18House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
3. 2026-03-12House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
4. 2026-03-10House Second Readers (House)
5. 2026-03-09House First Readers (House)
6. 2026-03-06Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
7. 2026-03-06Senate Third Read (Senate)
8. 2026-03-04Senate Read Second Time (Senate)

• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)Primary sponsor
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)
• Bill Cowsert (R, SD-046)
• Max Burns (R, SD-023)
• Frank Ginn (R, SD-047)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Larry Walker (R, SD-020)
• Greg Dolezal (R, SD-027)
• Mike Hodges (R, SD-003)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Josh Bonner (R, HD-073)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2026

   54 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 0 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #648

• veterans affairs
• nursing homes
• power of attorney
• guardianship and conservatorship
• public benefits applications