Senate delays unveiling its version of ethics bill
The state Senate has delayed until Thursday its answer about ethics reform.
The Senate Rules Committee heard testimony Tuesday about House Bill 142, which among other proposals would ban lobbyists’ gifts to individual legislators. The bill is sponsored by state House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge. It is considered historic legislation that would for the first time place limits on influence under the Capitol’s Gold Dome.
The Senate Rules Committee had scheduled a meeting for Wednesday to unveil its version of the bill. Among other proposed changes, the Senate is expected to reject the ban in favor of a $100 cap on lobbyists’ gifts. The meeting is now rescheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday.
— Kristina Torres
Weight-loss surgery bill advances
A Senate health committee Tuesday approved a bill that would create a two-year weight-loss surgery pilot program for selected state employees.
The pilot program created by House Bill 511 would allow Georgia’s Department of Community Health to determine whether weight-loss surgery, known as bariatric surgery, should be covered by the state health insurance benefit plan. Seventy-five state employees would be chosen each year to participate in the program.
The committee also passed a companion resolution, House Resolution 603, that would require state health officials to track the patients’ progress months and years after the procedure.
— Misty Williams
