ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a mental health reform bill Thursday that follows up on landmark mental health legislation the late House Speaker David Ralston steered through last year.
House Bill 520, which passed 163-3, has the dual goals of growing Georgia’s mental-health workforce and finding better alternatives for patients than shuffling between jails, emergency rooms and the streets.
“Eighty percent of every Georgia family is impacted by either mental health or substance abuse,” said Rep. Todd Jones, R-South Forsyth, one of the bill’s sponsors. “They need a place to turn. They need to know we are there for them.”
The legislation would address the state’s mental-health workforce shortage by creating a loan repayment program for nurses and other mental-health professionals who are already working in the field and agree to provide mental-health care in underserved communities. Last year’s bill limited loan forgiveness to students who had not begun their professional careers.
Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, another of House Bill 520’s sponsors, said Georgia’s mental-health workforce suffers from a 20% vacancy rate. She said an existing loan forgiveness program for physicians willing to practice in rural Georgia is working well.
“Where you were born should not determine where you get proper health care, and health care is mental health and substance abuse,” Jones added.
The bill also would create a task force to looks for ways to streamline mental-health licensing procedures and reform some disciplinary measures for nurses and other professionals facing behavioral health or substance abuse problems to bring them in line with current procedures for doctors.
After Thursday’s vote, House Speaker Jon Burns praised his late predecessor, who died last November, for leading the way on mental-health reform with last year’s legislation.
“I can assure you David Ralston is smiling down on this body right now,” Burns, R-Newington, told his House colleagues.
House Bill 520 now moves to the Georgia Senate.