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Georgia committee holds hearing on bill to incentivize optometrists in rural areas
Summary
A House Rural Development hearing on "House Bill 6 59" examined a proposal to allow loan forgiveness for optometrists who locate in rural Georgia and discussed longer-term ideas including creating an in-state optometry school; funding for the program was not specified.
Rep. Dean Green introduced House Bill 6 59 on behalf of lawmakers seeking to attract optometrists to rural Georgia, saying the measure would allow optometrists to appear before the workforce board to qualify for loan forgiveness if they locate in designated rural areas.
"We are in a dire strait for optometrists," Rep. Dean Green told the committee during the hearing. He said the bill grew out of work by the House Rural Development Council and is modeled on an earlier program for dentists.
Aubrey Valines, general counsel for the Georgia Optometric Association, told the committee the bill "just adds optometrists to the list of those who can go in front of the workforce committee, the board, and possibly get their loan forgiven if they locate in a rural area." Valines said there are "1,406 optometrists in…
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