House Regulated Industries Committee, March 2, 2026

Transcript

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1. 0:08:26

   All right, we're go-

2. 0:08:26

   No, I-

3. 0:08:30

   All right. Let me call this, uh, the House Regulated Industries meeting to order. Um, we're gonna go ahead and start on, uh, we had Bill HB1254 recommitted from Rules today for some, uh, for, for some minor clarification on that. Representative Reeves, if you'll come on up.

4. 0:08:56

   Feel lucky, feel lucky you got some of the nicest ladies in the, over at the Capitol that's working with you on this stuff. I'm gonna get you out of the way quick so they can get on back about more serious work.

5. 0:09:06

   Thank you, Chairman Powell.

6. 0:09:07

   All right.

7. 0:09:07

   I appreciate it. Chairman Powell and members of the Regulated Industries Committee, I present to you LC56-0638S, substitute to House Bill 1254. This makes, uh, nine, uh, relatively minor changes to this bill in response to some communications that Governor Kemp's office, Amy Dorman, had with cemeterians and with geologists after this bill passed out of committee the other day. So we're continuing to communicate on this bill. Uh, it is 61 pages long, but the, the new things in there are less than a page out of that, so respectfully re- request your approval.

8. 0:09:44

   I'm glad to go, uh, in as much or as little detail as the committee would like.

9. 0:09:48

   Madam Chairman and the committee, why don't you go ahead and start?

10. 0:09:51

    Thank you. Uh, Chairman, on, on lines 99 through 100, we are striking pre-need dealers or burial and funeral merchandise dealers. On line 362, we are striking cemetery owner. On lines 804 to 805, we're s- we're adding, "And is enacted to safeguard life, health, and property to promote public welfare." On line 835, we are replacing 46 with 43.

11. 0:10:21

    On line 836, we're replacing may with shall. On line 839, we are striking as he or she deems appropriate. On line 852, we're replacing professional registered geologist with registered professional geologist. On lines 882 to 883, we are striking which has been approved by the Secretary of State. On lines 883 to 884, we are adding or higher, and we are also adding or a comparable earth or environmental science or engineering-focused discipline.

12. 0:10:54

    Again, this is, uh, regulatory reform following up on, uh, House Bill fi- uh, 579 last year, the Professional Licensing Reform Study Committee, which has, um, accelerated licensing, uh, grant and renewal times by the Secretary of State, and we, we studied this an additional year to make these areas, uh, more efficient as well.

13. 0:11:16

    All right. We got a couple questions, but first I want to ask our counsel, did you draft the amendments?

14. 0:11:22

    Yes.

15. 0:11:22

    And, uh, are all of these in the appropriate spot, spots?

16. 0:11:26

    Absolutely.

17. 0:11:27

    All right. Number 26, that would be Chairman DeLoach.

18. 0:11:34

    Mr. Chairman, in light of the fact it's always been my nature to try to be helpful, I would like to point out to the members of the committee that all those lines and changes he read, we have in our folder a sheet showing exactly all of those.

19. 0:11:52

    We do have that. All right. Mr. Mitchell.

20. 0:11:58

    Thank you, Mr. Chair. Very, very simple before I, if I'm allowed to make a motion, Mr. Chairman, and that is, is it typical that our board members don't, aren't compensated for their services?

21. 0:12:08

    I think it varies.

22. 0:12:10

    Mm-hmm.

23. 0:12:13

    Then we're to find good people as a result to-

24. 0:12:17

    All right.

25. 0:12:18

    Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make a motion if I can.

26. 0:12:20

    We'll have a motion in just a second. Has anybody else got any specific questions about any of the line items? No? This would be the time.

27. 0:12:31

    Mr. Chairman, I'd, uh, move to pass.

28. 0:12:33

    We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Do we have any discussion, any possible amendments, any concerns? If not, all in favor say aye. Aye. Ayes have it.

29. 0:12:43

    Thank you so much.

30. 0:12:43

    See y'all.

31. 0:12:44

    Appreciate it.

32. 0:12:47

    All right, that takes care of all the business. New business at hand. Representative Chastain, if you would come on down.

33. 0:13:06

    Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. We're back. We were in subcommittee a few minutes ago. Uh, we do have a sub, uh, LC56-0641S, uh, recommendation of Ledge Council when we were presenting earlier in, um, subcommittee, and that deals with line 266, and talking about probate courts. And on, uh, on page 12, we added a section, uh, 119 at the bottom, 219, and then the s- the s- the 294 to 303 explaining a little bit more about probate courts, and it shores up the probate court authority, and that was recommendat- recommendation of Ledge Council to put that in, uh, as a sub.

34. 0:13:54

    The rest of the bill, Mr. Chairman, really is a, it's a agency bill from the insurance, uh, commissioner, and it's been several years since anything has been done on the fire safety side of the commissioner's office, so this is, this has some, uh, cleanup language and a few more things that I'll go over real briefly. Uh, one, it creates a deputy commissioner of the, of the safety fire. I always say fire safety, I don't know why, but of the safety fire, uh, position in the agency. Uh, it establishes- A consistent process for hearings across the agency when someone wish, wishes to appeal a decision by the office.

35. 0:14:29

    It kind of clarifies that a little bit, uh, how that hearing goes from the commissioner. And if the decision is appealed, they can petition that in review to the Superior Court of Fulton County. Um, it enhances fire fatality investigation. We've had a couple of, of issues in Georgia where evidence or maybe even, uh, a body was moved before the State Fire Marshal's office could get there. So this kind of just makes a, makes a recommendation for that.

36. 0:14:59

    And it also modernizes the fees and fines for the smoke detectors in manufactured housing, uh, and that... And we talked to the manufactured housing folks earlier. They're, they're fine with that. No, no opposition with that part of it. It also, we've, it's, uh, been endorsed by the, uh, Georgia Firefighters Association as well.

37. 0:15:23

    All right.

38. 0:15:24

    That's mainly the bill.

39. 0:15:28

    All right, number 23.

40. 0:15:30

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have a question, and I've, I'm, I'm probably wrong, but, um, which is normal-

41. 0:15:36

    It's okay

42. 0:15:38

    ... 'cause Chairman McDonald says I'm pretty dumb. So, uh, 258, that reads kind of weird, or maybe I'm just missing that. Um, shall, a misdemeanor shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 12 months by a fine of not more than 1,000 per violation or both. Is that, is that correct or...?

43. 0:16:03

    Bryce. Check out.

44. 0:16:08

    Might be a day to, uh, introduce your, uh, colleague there.

45. 0:16:12

    I, I will, Mr. Chairman. Sorry about that. I have Bryce Rawson with me from the, he's from the State Insurance Commissioner's Office, Mr. Representative McCollum, and he can hopefully answer that question.

46. 0:16:21

    I'll do my best. Uh, again, Bryce Rawson, Director of Legislative Affairs for the Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner's Office. Uh, to that end, I think I would have to defer to legislative council on the, the, the wording of that, that manner.

47. 0:16:35

    If I may, Chairman.

48. 0:16:36

    Yes.

49. 0:16:37

    Uh, that's a pretty standard wording-

50. 0:16:39

    Okay

51. 0:16:40

    ... for a misdemeanor offense, yes.

52. 0:16:41

    Well, I was just curious, i- is, so you get, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 12 months.

53. 0:16:51

    You have a maximum, uh, of 12 months in custody or $1,000, or, and $1,000 fine or both.

54. 0:16:57

    So it says by instead of and or unless-

55. 0:17:00

    It's just listing-

56. 0:17:01

    Okay

57. 0:17:01

    ... by imprisonment, by a fine-

58. 0:17:03

    Okay

59. 0:17:03

    ... or both.

60. 0:17:04

    All right.

61. 0:17:04

    Kind of a judge's discretion.

62. 0:17:06

    All right. Thank you.

63. 0:17:15

    I might ask a question on, uh, lines 272, raising the maximum fine from $25 to $250.

64. 0:17:29

    Tell us about that. What dwellings are you talking about?

65. 0:17:33

    Yeah, so the type of dwellings, uh, you could think of like, like apartment buildings that are within our jurisdiction. Uh, so you can think of like the, these multi-level high rises, uh, that we require smoke detectors. Uh, right now, uh, if you, if you take a look at the fine, uh, the fine is actually less than the cost of a modern-day smoke detector. Uh, so we're making sure that when our folks have to go out a- and actually take a look to make sure these, these buildings have the required smoke detectors by the state minimum fire safety standards, uh, that we're not being brought out just for a quality control, that we're also being brought out to actually enforce the law.

66. 0:18:04

    These would be, uh, apartment units that are for lease, not private apartments.

67. 0:18:10

    That would be one example, yes.

68. 0:18:12

    Is that correct? It would not be private owned.

69. 0:18:13

    Yes, if, as long as they're within our jurisdiction. So, uh, if you, you can... It depends on the type of dwelling that it is, but if, typically a single and, and single and two-family homes fall outside of our jurisdiction as a state fire marshal's office. But, uh, in, in general, any other type of building would be subject to the state minimum fire sa- safety standards.

70. 0:18:37

    All right. Any other question? Well, we've got some new members that's, that have arrived now.

71. 0:18:42

    Yeah.

72. 0:18:44

    Gentlemen, if y'all would take a look at, uh, HB1385. It's by substitute. Looks like it's, uh, it's increasing the authority of the insurance commissioner substantially on fire.

73. 0:19:05

    We'll give you just a second to study it over. All of that.

74. 0:19:11

    You said 1385? You got it?

75. 0:19:14

    Yeah. You need one?

76. 0:19:15

    Yeah,

77. 0:20:06

    I got it.

78. 0:20:06

    Just wave your hand when you think you've had a chance to go through it. All right.

79. 0:20:12

    I do.

80. 0:20:12

    Sharon Carpenter.

81. 0:20:13

    Thank you so much. So just a quick question. Uh, obviously I'm just getting, uh, trial by fire, if you will. But, uh, this, uh- Is this going to make the process faster than what we're experiencing today on issues with building permits and all that stuff? 'Cause I know sometimes you get a lot, especially on bigger projects, there's some pushback that we're not able to, to meet the needs of the private sector. Is that the, is that the purpose?

82. 0:20:41

    I think that's the ... In, in that one section, uh, I think that's the intent of the bill. Uh, and also when they have an issue like that, to, to, to be able to get it quicker from the, from the commissioner.

83. 0:20:56

    Mr. Brass.

84. 0:20:58

    Uh, um, I would certainly agree with Representative Chastain. Uh, what this does is it sets up the, the appeal board itself. Uh, after you have gone through all the, the appeals processes with the local governing authority, at that point then, instead of having to go to a court directly, you can now go to this appeals board that is, that is staffed, as you'll see on page six. Uh, so it, it will also actually help save some of the legal costs as well, uh, from some of our cities and counties who may have to, you know, fight the, also the de- the developer per- perhaps, uh, who are, who are trying to in- invest in that community.

85. 0:21:35

    I'm just looking on the appeals proc- on the appeals process. Is this going through OSHA, or is this one of your own hearing panels?

86. 0:21:44

    Just the hearing authority in general, sir.

87. 0:21:47

    Yeah, is this going through the Office of, uh, Administrative Hearings, or does this go through, uh, through the insu- Do y'all have, do y'all have a hearing panel set up within the department-

88. 0:21:57

    We do have a hearing-

89. 0:21:58

    ... or is this through OSHA?

90. 0:21:58

    We do have a hearings process, yes, sir. So we, what we're doing is aligning it with our standards hearing process, where if you are aggrieved by an action of our office or believe you are, at that point you can appeal to the commissioner. And then following that an appeal to the commissioner if our, the agency's decision is upheld, then you'll go to the Superior Court of Fulton County.

91. 0:22:18

    All right.

92. 0:22:21

    Mr. McDonald.

93. 0:22:23

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That, your ... On topic of what my question is, looking at that appeals process, you're moving it from 15 days to 10. Uh, that, I think that's your ... I would want why, but ...

94. 0:22:41

    So it, it aligns it with how we do it in general with our insurance code as well. And of course, that, that does not get around the period where we have to actually publicize, uh, in general. So usually we, we ... Standard pra- practice is about 30 days where we give notice to the public, so we publish it on our website, uh, let them know that we are gonna have a hearing, these are the rules and regs that, that we are proposing to change.

95. 0:23:02

    Would you have any problem leaving it at 15 for the consumer?

96. 0:23:07

    No, sir. No problem at all.

97. 0:23:08

    Okay.

98. 0:23:14

    Mr. McCollum.

99. 0:23:17

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So I have a, a, to, uh, Chairman Carpenter's, uh, question, um, how, how far behind are the, the fire marshals inspect, you know, inspecting buildings? And then this follow-up, uh, as well, the fire marshal, it doesn't, uh, inspect elevators. I know I've had some issues i- of how far the state is behind, uh, with elevators. I mean, there's ... And they won't let you use an out- Or I guess they, the commissioner won't let you use an outside entity to inspect your elevator.

100. 0:23:52

     Is that ... That's not addressed in here at all, is it?

101. 0:23:55

     You, you actually can use a, a third party that is approved by our office. You, you can use those companies to do the elevator inspections themselves. But the, the placard that is issued on elevators has to be signed off by a member of the state fire marshal's office.

102. 0:24:08

     So is this gonna ... Uh, how is this gonna help, uh, getting elevators inspected in Georgia, um, faster? I- is this, is this ... It doesn't seem like this is gonna help.

103. 0:24:21

     So Act- I will say this. Uh, last year the general assembly, they did give us appropriations for about 45 new positions in our, in our fire safety division, or safety fire, and part of that did include a number of, uh, inspectors for our elevator inspections, or EBA, elevators, boilers, and amusements. Uh, and I will say we have caught up as much as we can with those folks. So before those positions were implemented, uh, we were sitting roughly at about 50% inspections completed for elevators in the state of Georgia. Uh, right now we're looking at upwards of 90% of elevator inspections to be completed just by the hiring those new inspectors.

104. 0:24:55

     Uh, so there's nothing in, in this bill that directly deals with increasing the, the efficiency of our office in terms of inspecting elevators, but hiring the positions has done a great job, and we're very thankful for the general assembly, uh, for their help in that matter.

105. 0:25:07

     Follow-up, Mr. Chairman.

106. 0:25:09

     Go ahead.

107. 0:25:10

     So, um, help me. How do ... So the, the elevator companies that y'all, y'all recommend, are they not bonded? Are they, they not capable of, of i- inspecting the elevator and, and doing the certificate? And, and then can you not hi- You can't hire a third party if you're a company and you need a inspection and the fire marshals can't get to you. I- I'm asking can you?

108. 0:25:38

     Yeah. Yes, you can. It just need the final ... So we'll get the inspection report back from those third-party companies, and we'll just, our folks will have to undergo a, a review of that just to make sure that it was comprehensive. And of course, these are, we generally only work with companies that, that we do trust. Uh, so y- you'll ... I can't, I won't say them today, but you, you probably know their names if you know anything about elevator companies.

109. 0:25:58

     Okay. Thank you.

110. 0:26:00

     All right. Chairman Carpenter.

111. 0:26:03

     Thank you so much. So would the, would the, um, author be amendable ... I, I have heartburn with line 107 on Superior Court of Fulton County if I've got an issue. Um, no offense if you're from Fulton County, I just, uh, I know they get backlogged. So to, to, to, to shove a, to shove this into Fulton County can be, you know, I don't know if before were these handled locally in superior court at-

112. 0:26:30

     Within the jurisdiction that you're in, or what you're slicing out is the superior court. Now it's saying you gotta go to Fulton County to ha- to deal with this. I probably have a little bit of heartburn on that. And then also have a heartburn, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, on the, uh, taking out the APA stuff on the back couple of pages. I'd say somebody else who just passed a APA bill would have heartburn, but I don't wanna speak for him. Um, just some thoughts. So are you amendable to...

113. 0:27:00

     I know you struck that line out for a reason, but just as someone not from Fulton County, the last thing I'd wanna do is drive to Fulton County and have to address an issue.

114. 0:27:10

     At the outset, sir, I... Our position would likely not match what you've presented. Uh, I think we... The issue that we run into is that our legal division, uh, at the OCI, while they are incredibly talented, they are also incredibly limited in quantity. Uh, and we, it is already incredibly hard to get. If we have to go to every single venue, uh, that is across the State of Georgia, uh, our, our attorneys who are driving it are quite expensive in that manner. Uh, it may be difficult to, for us to, for them to handle their, their other regulatory matters, uh, just, just given our current staffing levels.

115. 0:27:46

     So a friendly suggestion would be maybe statewide business court.

116. 0:27:49

     Mm.

117. 0:27:49

     Something like that, that has, has some, some bandwidth, I think. Um, I know there's some other issues that-

118. 0:27:56

     Mm

119. 0:27:56

     ... made, made the statewide business court, um, made you nervous about that. But I think this, this type of issue might work better in a statewide business court from an efficiency standpoint. Just a suggestion.

120. 0:28:07

     That's a great idea.

121. 0:28:09

     I think that'd be

122. 0:28:17

     All right. Chairman Dubnik.

123. 0:28:20

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, to the bill author and to the gentleman here, if you could go with me to line 312.

124. 0:28:32

     Page 13. Uh, it says, "Upon receipt of a sufficient number." How is it that we are to define sufficient number? And then separately at the end of that line, complaints of a serious nature. So my questions are, is sufficient number outlined and defined in code? And is complaints of a serious nature outlined and defined in code?

125. 0:29:02

     Yeah.

126. 0:29:04

     312.

127. 0:29:05

     Yeah.

128. 0:29:05

     Okay.

129. 0:29:09

     To the best of my knowledge, uh, they are likely not defined in code. No, sir.

130. 0:29:14

     Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

131. 0:29:19

     All right. Do we have any other questions? Well, we do have one.

132. 0:29:23

     Point of order.

133. 0:29:24

     We were just discussing on lines 106 and 107, and I... This is for legislative council. Um, i- i- is, is that, is this update requiring to go to Superior Court of Fulton County because of the case law that just was made, that we have to basically sue the State of Georgia in Fulton County Court, or does that have nothing to do with this?

134. 0:29:46

     Uh, I don't believe that that's the basis for this, but I didn't, I didn't do this drafting, but that doesn't seem to be the case, no.

135. 0:29:52

     Okay.

136. 0:29:52

     This is a convenience change.

137. 0:29:54

     Gotcha. Ms. Draper.

138. 0:29:59

     Thank you, Mr. Chair. On the discussion of whether Fulton County Superior Court or the Statewide Business Court is appropriate, um, my understanding is the matters that go to Statewide Business Court are much more complex than perhaps what this bill would cover, and you can correct me if I'm wrong with that. But, uh, to the extent that's true, uh, sending it to Statewide Business Court might actually delay matters as opposed to a more streamlined, um, sending it to superior court, where they deal with these kinds of issues. But if you have opinions on that, love to hear them.

139. 0:30:33

     All right.

140. 0:30:37

     I think that's- No. I think that's- It's superior court ... yeah. Yeah.

141. 0:30:45

     I can tell there seems to be a little bit of, uh, consternation with this bill. Um, if I might, I wanna, uh, it's a prog- prerogative of the chair, I wanna suspend action on this bill. Um, and I'd like for, uh, Ms. Draper, Representative Chairman Dubnik, uh, Mr. McCollum, would y'all like to sit down and meet with the author? Uh, I would have one question. You know, I look in here that y'all wanna suspend the APA.

142. 0:31:18

     Y'all don't wanna go in front of the administrative procedures for y'all's rules and regs. And why would that be? Because that's one of the most popular bills that's passed this session, was putting you bureaucrats under a little bit more tighter control.

143. 0:31:35

     No idea why?

144. 0:31:38

     I think I'll have to defer to the, the chairman's discretion on, uh, if you'd like to suspend the comment period.

145. 0:31:45

     You're a good man, Bryce. You're a good man. Right answer. All right. We're gonna suspend action on this bill. If y'all might could get with him, we'll call a, we'll call this meet- We'll have another committee meeting probably tomorrow or the next day-

146. 0:31:57

     Okay

147. 0:31:57

     ... and, uh, see if we can get this cleaned up. And Chairman Carpenter, why don't you just weigh in there with them other three?

148. 0:32:06

     That's, that'd be-

149. 0:32:06

     It looks like, it looks like- It looks like y'all can really scrape down to the bone on this.

150. 0:32:12

     All right.

151. 0:32:12

     Thank you.

152. 0:32:13

     Thank you. Thank you.

153. 0:32:16

     All right.

154. 0:32:21

     Well, let's see.

155. 0:32:26

     Come on, come on up, Represent- uh, Chairman Leverett. Whip Leverett.

156. 0:32:40

     We have in front of it, I believe, is a substitute that you've submitted-

157. 0:32:45

     Yes, Mr. Chairman

158. 0:32:46

     ... LC60-0331S.

159. 0:32:49

     That's correct, Mr. Chairman.

160. 0:32:50

     All right.

161. 0:32:54

     So Mr. Chairman, this is House Bill 1446, and, and the chairman recited the LC number of the substitute accurately. This is a substitute that I, I drafted to try to address some concerns that were presented to me last week. So the bill, um, is the result of, of some discussions I've had with EMS, public EMS, uh, directors in my district and throughout the state over the last few years. Um, the bill would create a council or a board, uh, that would be appointed by the governor that would be in charge of everything that the state EMS office and the Department of Public Health currently does.

162. 0:33:32

     It would, it would, it, it would be a rulemaking body. It could issue regulations. It would be subject, Mr. Chairman, to the Administrative Procedures Act. It would, um, fulfill all the functions that the office in DPH currently does. And then the, presumably the staff that currently populates that office would move under this board or council, and then that council would be administratively assigned to DCH. The reason for that move, I think, is just the, um, uh, I think many in the EMS, EMS community don't really feel like DPH is a great fit, and I think even DPH might feel that way at times.

163. 0:34:09

     It, it doesn't really fit as well within some of the, the, the primary functions of DPH. Um, we think DCH is a better fit, and DCH has some familiarity with, uh, EMS already because they do process payments to EMS. So, um, that is the, the, the gist of the bill. Now, it takes an, a lot of pages to do that because we, first of all, have to create the body. We have to create the, um, the, the, the structure of that body, provide for gubernatorial appointment, and then have to transfer all existing powers, privileges, contracts, duties, obligations of the state office of EMS into the council, um, and then provide sort of for a transition period while the council is being formed.

164. 0:34:58

     I believe under the current bill, the council wouldn't become effective till the end of '20... I believe it's the end of '27, uh, to, to give time to appoint the body, um, and then provide for transition. Um, and then the, uh, uh, remainder of the bill is basically taking existing sections that are already in the code in the EMS chapter of Title 31, um, which is a Department of Public Health chapter, and move that into a Department of Community Health chapter, uh, with changes that are appropriate to reflect that the council is now the entity that's gonna be serving functions that the Department of Public Health used to serve.

165. 0:35:40

     And then we've also added some provisions in there on appeals. Um, I think we do provide for appeal t- Well, we don't go to Fulton Superior. We go to the superior court of the county where the, the, the sort of the controversy or dispute arose. Um, but the, the, the bill i- is not intended to impact any additional substantive changes. Uh, we felt like we were changing enough by changing the structure of, of the way EMS is regulated right now. We're trying to preserve a lot of the rest of the statute.

166. 0:36:11

     Even though it's shown as new code sections, a lot of that are existing code sections just renumbered and moved around. Um, and we did try to move the other functions of the EMS office to the council, like designation of trauma centers. We're leaving the trauma commission with DPH, but the designation of the trauma centers would follow the council, and some other functions you can see through there as well. Um, so that, uh, uh, that is the bill. Um, I think it's a, uh, it is a bill at least that I know there's a pretty broad consensus among public EMS offices that this would be a good move for everybody.

167. 0:36:48

     I think it'll be good for DPH and, and good for EMS. I don't know if it's good for DCH, um, uh, but it's good for everyone else, I think. And I should say, in all fairness, DCH has expressed some concern to me about taking this on this year. Um, and I, I have indicated to them I have... I don't know for sure if we're gonna make it to the floor. We're gonna try, but, uh, that may take care of itself. But I felt like I should say, um, that in all fairness to them.

168. 0:37:17

     We're looking to see if it's got an implementation date.

169. 0:37:22

     July 1st of '27. It's got about a year.

170. 0:37:28

     I think that's when the, when the, the-

171. 0:37:30

     Two years

172. 0:37:30

     ... uh, the portion of the code providing for the appointment of the body of the council would be effective. But then it, it wouldn't sort of go live in the sense that it would take on the duties until January 1, '28.

173. 0:37:43

     Okay.

174. 0:37:43

     That, that's my recollection of the way we structured it.

175. 0:37:47

     Mr. McCollum.

176. 0:37:48

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is, is it not true that, um, now a lot of the grants, uh, and I'm not sure, I just heard this, a lot of the grants aren't being taken advantage of because the department's a little bit busy or not focused?

177. 0:38:01

     That, that, yeah, and I don't know what the cause is, but that's, there is at least I have heard from a number of EMS officials that they feel like a lot of opportunities are being missed.

178. 0:38:12

     Thank you for this bill. Being retired EMS, fire, so this is a great bill.

179. 0:38:16

     Thank you.

180. 0:38:18

     All right. John Carpenter.

181. 0:38:21

     Yeah, I was just catching up. Looks like there's some clar- some clarification, a switch to kind of a nationally recognized course w- uh, on, uh, defibrillators. Any-

182. 0:38:32

     What section-

183. 0:38:33

     ... comments on that?

184. 0:38:33

     What line are you referring to?

185. 0:38:34

     Around the 880. Uh, it looks like 877 through 880 or something. It appears, um, we're- Basically because you're getting rid of the rules and regs of the Department of Public Health, that we're focusing on na- nationally recognized-

186. 0:38:49

     Well, nationally recognized-

187. 0:38:50

     Of course

188. 0:38:50

     ... is in current code. That's already there. W- we're just changing healthcare provider professional to healthcare provider or professional. Uh, so the, the change is largely just one of nomenclature, but that's-

189. 0:39:00

     I got you. Yeah, no, uh, just underneath that. Go to 882.

190. 0:39:06

     Course, which include... That's, yeah, that's correct.

191. 0:39:08

     Okay. I mean, I don't have a problem with that. I just, I just, was interesting.

192. 0:39:14

     Yeah. I believe, again, that is just to, um, uh, the intention there was just... I'm trying to think. Is that...

193. 0:39:27

     I'm, I'm not sure if that is cleanup or if that is making this code section consisting with, with other changes that have already been approved.

194. 0:39:37

     Gotcha.

195. 0:39:37

     'Cause I know we've, we've, we've passed some stuff on defibrillators that Chairman Hawkins-

196. 0:39:41

     Gotcha

197. 0:39:42

     ... had, and that, that may be what they're-

198. 0:39:44

     May have cleared that up

199. 0:39:44

     ... I can't, I can't say for sure.

200. 0:39:45

     And then my, the last question is I, I, I, I'm looking, but I don't see, how is this new council, how are they, who chooses who's on it? How does all that-

201. 0:39:55

     The, the governor would select them, and it would come largely from the REMSACS, the Regional EMS Councils. Um, we have provided for one private, uh, provider. Uh, some of the private providers have told me they would like to have a few more people in the room, and that's something we're certainly willing to look at. But the governor would just appoint the, the council. Um, but the idea is that people on REMSACS would populate it.

202. 0:40:19

     Gotcha. Thank you.

203. 0:40:20

     So you'd have, you'd have people who are familiar with sort of the front lines of EMS making decisions that impact the front lines.

204. 0:40:28

     Sure. Absolutely. Thank you. All right. Any other que- Oh, Representative McCollum.

205. 0:40:38

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I- I think, um, Chairman Carpenter, a lot of the, um, the reason they put nationally recognized is because w- the State of Georgia, w- we would just use the criteria for training, uh, that's already in place by the national reg- register, you know, recognized groups. Just like, uh, Georgia doesn't have a test for EMTs. We use the nationally recognized because the- they'd re- recreate the wheel for no reason.

206. 0:41:05

     Yeah.

207. 0:41:05

     And then-

208. 0:41:06

     And, and there was some testimony in the subcommittee, I think, about reciprocity. Does that make-

209. 0:41:10

     Right. That, that's the same. By using that selection, you can use it over, across border, state lines. One, one other thing, um, how many board members, I, I didn't see it in here, and, and w- would there be a appetite for appointing, like, the speaker and, uh, gee, some other, some other, uh, legislative part instead of just all the governor? I, I don't know how many he's appointing or-

210. 0:41:37

     Well, we've got the, the governor appoints one member from each REMSAC, with preference beginning from the chairperson, then one member, uh, from private ambulance service, and then one member from, knowledgeable of the EMSC by the governor, and then we've got one member knowledgeable of EMSC to be appointed by the speaker, and one member to be appointed by the president of the Senate.

211. 0:41:56

     Okay. Thank you.

212. 0:41:57

     So we, so we do have one speaker appointment.

213. 0:41:58

     Okay. Good. Thank you.

214. 0:42:02

     Any further questions from any of the committee members? My goodness, y'all sure are an agreeable crowd today. All right. I understand this was fully vetted in the subcommittee. I understood that there were a, a num- uh, a good bit of testimony from our EMS professionals.

215. 0:42:21

     There w- there was, Mr. Chairman, from, from some of the private, uh, um, interests.

216. 0:42:26

     And was any, did, uh, public, uh, health, did they have any commentary on that?

217. 0:42:31

     I, I have, I've met with a representative of public health. They, they, uh, made a few comments, and I've, those, some of those changes are reflected in the bill. I, I, I think they're, I, I feel like I'm characterizing accurately to say that they are neutral, uh, on the bill. They did have some concerns, but they are neutral on whether EMS is, stays with them or goes elsewhere.

218. 0:42:51

     All right. Very good. Uh, well, I don't see any more lights, so everybody's satisfied. If not, what's the, uh, what's the mood of this committee?

219. 0:43:01

     Move it passed.

220. 0:43:02

     We have a motion.

221. 0:43:03

     Second.

222. 0:43:03

     We have a second. I see your light flashing. Nope, nope. All right, we have a motion and a second. Do we have any further questions or discussion? Any proposal amendments? If not, all in favor say, "Aye."

223. 0:43:16

     Aye.

224. 0:43:17

     Opposed, and the ayes have it.

225. 0:43:19

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank the members.

226. 0:43:20

     We've done the governor's work. I think you've killed a lot of pine trees with this bill, Brad.

227. 0:43:23

     Yes, sir, I did.

228. 0:43:26

     I notice you got all these letters of support, but you didn't get Hart and Franklin and Madison that way, will you?

229. 0:43:31

     Well, I did have one from Madison. I think I got it to Jan a little late, so.

230. 0:43:34

     Ah, all right. We thank you. All right, we have a, one last bill, and, uh, this bill would be 1428 by Chairman McDonald.

231. 0:43:49

     Do I need a mic?

232. 0:43:50

     Uh, you could do it from your desk if you'd want to.

233. 0:43:53

     I, I prefer that. I appreciate it. I-

234. 0:43:55

     Uh, y- the way your luck's going here lately, we can be voted down while you're sitting up here, or you can be voted down when you're down there looking at us.

235. 0:44:05

     All right, have at it.

236. 0:44:06

     All right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. Uh, got a, uh, House Bill 1428, LC474059. Uh, this was passed unanimous out of subcommittee just about an hour and a half ago. Basically, uh, House Bill 1428 was brought to me by the professional engineers. It's a bill that's kind of a housekeeping bill that cleans up, uh, something that happened back in ni- in 2- 2022. The, uh, land surveyors and the professional engineers were moved out from under the Secretary of State's office and into a, their own, um- Uh, I guess their own licensing board.

237. 0:44:46

     Sir?

238. 0:44:46

     Freestanding agency.

239. 0:44:47

     Yes, sir. PELs is, is, uh, they have their own licensing board not under Secretary of State. When this happened, uh, it, they did not put in, in code that they could keep the, r- retain the incidental revenues that they, they get from licensing and the, the nice licenses that they, they send out to, uh, the, the individuals that have, have been approved. Uh, when this happened, there were lou- there was a little over $300,000 that was left in the Secretary of State's under that auspice of that, it, that went away.

240. 0:45:20

     And, and so this will allow them to now be able to collect for those incide- incidentals, and they're the only licensing agency in the state, uh, that does not do this yet, and so this will allow them to do it.

241. 0:45:35

     All right. Can you tell us, can you tell the committee how much they charge for a license?

242. 0:45:41

     I'll have to phone a friend for that because I'm not an engineer. I may act like one sometimes, but I'm not.

243. 0:45:49

     All right. Questions from the committee?

244. 0:45:56

     You have absolutely swooned this committee.

245. 0:45:58

     How did I... I did good, didn't I?

246. 0:45:59

     I do not see the first light on.

247. 0:46:02

     Mr. Chairman.

248. 0:46:04

     Yes. Ch- it's changed for me now, Chairman.

249. 0:46:06

     I'm, I'm amazed from the last two or three bills I've sat in-

250. 0:46:09

     Yes, sir

251. 0:46:09

     ... committees and listened to you on, so, uh, we do have a light.

252. 0:46:13

     I, I'm gonna move to pass, Mr. Chairman.

253. 0:46:15

     All right. You have a friend down there-

254. 0:46:18

     I do

255. 0:46:18

     ... and a friend next to you. We have a motion and a second. Any further question? Any commentary? If not, all in favor say, "Aye."

256. 0:46:28

     Aye.

257. 0:46:29

     Opposed? And the ayes have it.

258. 0:46:31

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

259. 0:46:32

     Thank you.

260. 0:46:32

     Thank you, committee.

261. 0:46:33

     Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate y'all. Uh, we'll probably have another meeting this week, uh, for the three or four of y'all, if y'all would see if y'all can meet with, uh, Representative Chastain in the Insurance Commissioner's Office. I have some concerns with a lot of things they're asking for. It's, uh, may be an inflationary bill, but, uh, you know, wanna see that part in there where they want to do it with APA and as soon as it's passed.

262. 0:47:03

     Yeah, I don't think so.

263. 0:47:04

     Read the bill.

264. 0:47:05

     So y'all feel free to scrutinize it very well now, and I would, and this chair would appreciate it. Ladies and gentlemen, if there's nothing else, this committee is now adjourned.

265. 0:47:18

     All right. Thank you.

266. 0:47:19

     All right.

267. 0:47:20

     So there's a...

268. 0:47:21

     Give me the 197.