Committee advances substitute to SB39 barring state funds for transition-related interventions, including in correctional facilities

The committee voted to give a due pass to the committee substitute for Senate Bill 39, LC461248S, a measure that its sponsor said would prohibit public dollars from covering transition-related interventions — including surgical procedures and what the bill describes as "supraphysiological" hormone dosages — across state employee health-care plans, Medicaid, and state-owned or operated facilities, including correctional institutions.

"The bill prevents public dollars from covering transgender surgeries. It prohibits state employee health care plans from covering intervention. It also prohibits medical assistance programs, including Medicaid, from covering any medical interventions," Representative Cox, the sponsor, told the committee. He said the measure was intended to "not use state funds to account for that" and that procedures could still be obtained "like many other surgeries and treatments with an individual's own money."

Committee members…