The last day of the 2011 Session will be April 14th.  The Georgia Legislature will meet everyday this week and take off for Spring Break during the first week of April.  They will come back on Tuesday, April 12 and finish on Thursday, April 14.  Several bills continue to work their way through the House and Senate. 

Senate Delivers their Budget Proposal - Select Budget Items

• restored a House cut of $268,000 for the Citizen Review panels in their budget. This difference will have to be resolved in a conference committee.
• agreed with the House in restoring most of the proposed cut to the Residential Treatment Centers from a nearly $710 thousand cut to a $38 thousand cut. 
• agreed with the House restoration of $1.4 million for the non Medicaid Community Based respite services contract.
• agreed with the Governor and House with $59.3 million additional for the Department of Behavioral Health as part of the settlement funding agreement wit the US Department of Justice.

• $14.4 million to fund waiver slots for the NOW  and COMP waivers; $7 million to annualize 150 slots from FY2011; and $7.4 million for an additional 250 waiver slots
• $12.8 million in funding for 400 family supports, five crisis respite homes, and six mobile crisis teams to serve developmental disabilities consumers in community settings
• $32 million to assist mental health consumers in the community. 

HB 185 becomes SB 94, better known as the Runaway Youth Safety Act, will continue to race for the final day of the session after being stalled by not coming out of the House for a vote on the final day of cross-over day.  The author of SB 94 agreed to allow HB 185 to be attached to what was a gun bill, now a child welfare bill.  This parliamentary tactic allows for a bill to bypass the normal procedure of passing one of the Legislative Chambers first before it can be heard in the other chamber.  Both chambers will have to approve this bill after changes have been made to the bill.