Several health-related bills saw movement in the Georgia General Assembly last week. The House Rural Development Council’s recommendations in the form of HB 769 made their way through the Senate’s HHS Committee on Thursday. The Senate’s Healthcare Taskforce bill, SB 357, passed the House HHS committee. The two measures are being chiseled into shape where they can both pass and still yield a workable approach.

A bill aimed at improving the nation’s worst maternal mortality rate, HB 909 (Deborah Silcox-R), cleared the Senate on Thursday. Requested by the Department of Public Health, it creates a regime where the Department can set requirements for a hospital to become a designated perinatal facility by meeting certain standards.

Legislators also finished the FY 2018 amended budget, which was then signed by the Governor on Friday.

For more information on these and other issues we’re following during this legislative session, view our Weekly Legislative Update for March 9, 2018.