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House resolution would create 12-member study on addiction and recovery
Summary
The Appropriations Committee advanced House Resolution 512 to create a legislative study committee to examine addiction, recovery and related services; committee members approved two amendments to add a certified peer specialist and to explicitly include dual-diagnosis treatment.
House Resolution 512, carrying language to form a legislative study committee on addiction and recovery, was advanced unanimously by the Appropriations Committee after two committee amendments Wednesday.
The measure’s sponsor, Representative Karen Hagan, told the committee that the study would examine “where we currently stand on various addiction issues” and include recovery-focused recommendations. “We want to look at not just substance abuse, but all forms of addiction,” Hagan said, adding the committee would report back by Dec. 1 and initially be authorized to meet five days unless given additional time.
Committee members asked for and won changes before the final vote. Representative Jennifer Clark successfully moved an amendment to add a certified peer specialist as one of the civilian appointees; Clark said she wanted the committee to include “those with dual diagnoses” and to ensure the peer specialist need not be limited to recovery-organization staff. Representative Matthew Jones moved a separate amendment to add the phrase “and dual diagnosis” after references to treatment of addiction; that amendment was also adopted. Jeffrey Love, speaking for the Georgia Council for Recovery and allied groups, said the civilian appointee the resolution contemplates should be a “peer certified specialist” and called for a holistic approach.
As amended, the resolution would create a 13-member panel: 8 legislators and 5 nonlegislative members, with one civilian slot specified as a certified peer specialist. The resolution directs the panel to examine current services and gaps and to report recommendations to the House by Dec. 1 of the year the committee meets.
The committee recorded the final action as a unanimous passage. No formal vote tally with individual member names was recorded in the transcript.
The resolution does not appropriate funding itself; it establishes a study and reporting requirement. Committee members repeatedly framed the measure as intended to identify policy and program gaps before drafting funding or statutory changes.
Representative Hagan said the goal was to identify both current shortfalls and opportunities to support Georgians in recovery. The committee agreed to forward the amended resolution for further consideration.
The committee’s discussion included several requests for scope: members asked that the study include peer specialists, consider mental-health comorbidity (dual diagnosis) and examine non-substance addictions such as gambling and technology use.
