The Senate and House of Representatives have passed their versions of the budget, House Bill 948. Both versions incorporate $229 million in new revenues from a temporary hospital provider fee and $96 million from increases in various state fees. 

 

The budgets also include $287 million in one-time revenues from the securitization of a portion of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority loan portfolio. Not including these new revenues, the FY 2011 budget is based on revenue growth of just over four percent.

 

The House and Senate budgets contain hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts more than the governor's proposed budget. This is because the governor lowered the FY 2011 revenue estimate by $333 million and transferred $343 million in Recovery Act funds from FY 2011 into FY 2010 after he released his budget.

 

Compared to the pre-recession FY 2009 budget, the House and Senate versions of the FY 2011 budget includes General Fund cuts totaling 17.8 percent, or $3.6 billion, 12.6 percent when including Recovery Act funds.

 

The Budget Conference Committee began budget negotiations on April 22nd. They are expected to work over the weekend with a final budget conference agreement by the 40th legislative day.

 

Georgia Budget & Policy Institute's analyses of the Senate and House version of the FY 2011 budget are available to download:

 

 

Analyses and fact sheets regarding the governor's Amended FY 2010 budget and his proposed FY 2011 budget, as well as revenue options for addressing the state's deficit are available on www.GBPI.org.

 

To view a March 15th video presentation on budget and tax issues by GBPI's Sarah Beth Gehl and Tim Sweeney for the Healthcare Georgia Foundation, click here.

 

 

This week, just one week after the General Assembly passed $500 million in permanent tax breaks on capital gains and retirement income, the Senate passed HB 1198, which was amended in the Senate to eliminate the refundable portion of the Low Income Tax Credit. Lawmakers left in place refundable corporate tax credits that total the same amount of money as the Low Income Credit. Read GBPI's analysis of the bill.

 

Lawmakers reached agreement on a regional sales tax for transportation in HB 277. Regional Transportation Roundtables comprised of local government officials could provide a regional project list to voters, who would decide by referendum whether to approve the regional one percent sales tax in 2012. The new one percent sales tax applies to groceries, but not to motor fuel, energy used in manufacturing, or commercial airline jet fuel. The bill eases restrictions on MARTA funds, allowing the agency to use its capital reserves on operations for the next three years.

 

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy provides an analysis of the tax shift from wealthy Georgians to low- and middle-income Georgias if these bills are signed into law. It recommends that Georgia enact a more robust low-income credit, rather than a diminished one.

 

Healthcare and Health Insurance Policy
 
Hospital and Managed Care Fees
 
On Wednesday, April 14, the House of Representatives added language to House Bill 1055 to enact a 1.45 percent hospital provider fee to be deposited in the Indigent Care Trust Fund. This language was originally included in HB 307, and generates $229 million in revenue that is incorporated in both the House and Senate FY 2011 budget proposals.

For more information about the hospital provider fee, read Senior Healthcare Analyst Timothy Sweeney's analysis of the governor's original FY 2011 budget proposal, which included the fee. Also, read his Medicaid fact sheet that examines the Medicaid funding gap the provider fee seeks to address.
 
Health Insurance Regulation
 
Several bills dealing with insurance regulation, as well as the oversight and regulation of Georgia's Medicaid program, are still alive in the 2010 legislative session.  

Both chambers passed bills to allow private companies to sell individual health insurance products that are primarily regulated by other states. The Senate version -- Senate Bill 407 -- had been amended to ensure that products sold in Georgia under these provisions must still contain almost all of the coverage mandates required of products currently sold in Georgia.

On Wednesday, this bill was amended in the House Committee on Insurance to eliminate all the provisions in the Senate version of the bill and instead add all the language from HB 1184. Out-of-state insurers would be exempted from state laws governing required benefits and consumer protections.

 

The new version of SB 407 passed the House Insurance Committee. It is not currently on the initial House Rules calendar for day 39, but leaders could add it to a supplemental calendar. HB 1184 is currently in the Senate Rules Committee.

The Senate also passed SB 443, which creates a legislative oversight committee to review and evaluate the Care Management Organizations (CMO) that currently operate a portion of Georgia's Medicaid program. This bill has been favorably reported from the House Committee on Health and Human Services.

The House passed HB 1407, which requires a single Medicaid administrator for dental services and carves out the administrative contract from beneath the CMOs that operate the bulk of the Medicaid program. This bill has been favorably reported from the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services.

Bills Related to National Health Reform
 
In the final week before Crossover Day, both the House and Senate considered several bills seeking to prevent the implementation of health insurance reforms passed on the national level. Two bills that passed the Senate and that are now in the House include:

SB 399, which seeks to prevent any state agency or department from implementing any portion of the federal health insurance reform legislation without explicit state legislation authorizing the implementation activities. This bill is in the House Committee on Governmental Affairs.

SB 317, which would make it a state law that Georgians could not be compelled to "participate in any health care system," and that the purchase or sale of health insurance products and/or direct healthcare services could not be prohibited. This bill has been favorably reported from the House Committee on Health and Human Services.

 
Although these bills are aimed at provisions in the national health insurance reform legislation enacted by the U.S. Congress that assess penalties for individuals who do not obtain health insurance (with exceptions related to affordability) through the federal income tax system, it is unclear as to whether these bills enable Georgians to escape the federal rules if they are enacted.