ATLANTA (November 20, 2008) – Co-chairpersons Senator Renee Unterman (R-Buford) and Representative Mark Butler (R-Carrollton) led a joint Legislative Public Hearing today at the State Capitol to address the current status of the Department of Human Resources (DHR) restructuring efforts. The reorganization would create three separate departments reporting directly to the Governor: the Department of Human Services, the Department of Health, and the Department of Behavioral Health.
Senate Majority Announces New Leadership Positions
ATLANTA (November 18, 2008) – The State Senate Majority announced new leadership today during the Republican caucus elections. Senator Tommie Williams (R-Lyons) has been nominated for president pro tempore, which will go to a full vote before the Senate on January 12, 2009.
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Senate Discusses Budgets and Programs of Human Development
ATLANTA (November 17, 2008) – The joint Senate Appropriations subcommittee continued its meeting series today with the Human Development subcommittee and the Best Value in Government Task Force joint workshop at the Capitol. The subcommittee discussed agency reports, efficiencies, and cost savings for the Department of Labor, Department of Veterans Services, and Department of Human Resources (DHR). Senators Renee Unterman (R-Buford) and Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) co-chaired the meeting.
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Sen. Mullis Attends Joint Legislative Panel on Manufacturing at Georgia Tech
ATLANTA (November 14, 2008) – Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) joined fellow members of the Joint Legislative Panel on the Future of Manufacturing for their third meeting, hosted by Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The panel toured the campus’ Manufacturing Research Center and heard presentations from the university’s professors, students and industry experts. Presenters addressed the current state of Georgia’s manufacturing industry and their current research and development of new factory technologies and support strategies.
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Senate Healthcare Transformation Study Committee Discusses Key Issues, New Strategies
ATLANTA (November 14, 2008) – State Senator Judson Hill (R-Marietta) presided over the third Senate Healthcare Transformation Study Committee meeting held yesterday at the Capitol where a grim outlook on the future of federal and state health care was presented. Dennis Smith, who was the Director of the US Medicaid and Medicare Services for the past seven years and now serves as a Senior Fellow in Health Care Reform at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, stressed action needs to be taken now at the state level to ensure the future quality of the state’s Medicaid, SCHIP, and Peachcare programs.
“Doing nothing to address our health care system is simply not an option,” said Sen. Hill. “We need to find sustainable, long-term health care solutions to fund these programs rather than the quick fix budget solutions that seem to take place more often than not. Discovering ways to decrease the number of uninsured citizens, increase support for our physicians, improve patient access to quality care, and ultimately lower health care costs for all taxpayers are simply the right thing to do for the state of Georgia.”