Day 38 - 4/17/2007
Senate passes budget, PeachCare bills
>> Back to Daily Highlights
The Georgia Senate met throughout the day and into the late hours of the night as legislators considered a full calendar of bills including the FY 08 budget and HB 340, the PeachCare bill.
The Senate passed its version of HB 95, the FY 08 budget bill before lunch. The House insisted on its position. A conference committee was appointed. Conferees did not meet today. We expect that they will meet all day tomorrow. They hope to reach agreement on the budget quickly so that the legislature can pass the budget and conclude the legislative session by Friday.
Senators also passed the Senate substitute of Speaker Richardson’s PeachCare bill. Senators added two floor amendments to the bill—one amendment charges the Department of Revenue with verifying eligibility for PeachCare, and the other amendment clarifies that the $25 fine for emergency room usage is not applicable when an individual seeks care for a true emergency.
Voices for Georgia’s Children distributed a position paper on the Senate substitute which stated that, while we appreciate and applaud the Senate for including a provision expanding Medicaid to those at 125% of fpl, we oppose the bill because we believe that it will lead to greater numbers of uninsured children in the state.
Senator Greg Goggans was the floor leader for the Senate substitute for the bill. He explained that the Senate substitute was an attempt to provide coverage for children from low income families while ensuring that the cost of the PeachCare program to the state was maintained. He stated that, if the federal government raised SCHIP appropriations, he would support raising PeachCare eligibility in the future. Senators Nan Orrock, Horacena Tate, Regina Thomas, and Kasim Reed spoke eloquently against the bill citing the burden that increased premiums would place on lower income families. The bill passed 32-21 and will now go to the House which must vote to agree or disagree to the Senate changes.