Committee approves substitute to modernize Georgia's Dietetics Practice Act

The Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee voted to report House Bill 185 by committee substitute after the bill's sponsor described a multi-year effort to modernize Georgia's Dietetics Practice Act.

The sponsor told the committee the law had not been updated in 32 years and that HB185 narrows the scope of licensure to medical nutrition therapy (MNT) while expanding pathways for qualified nutrition professionals and enlarging exemptions so non-medical advisors (for example, personal trainers and youth coaches) do not need a clinical nutrition license. The bill also includes language enabling Georgia to participate in an interstate licensure compact to ease portability for practitioners such as military spouses.

Robin Stagall, a registered dietitian and government-affairs chair for the Georgia Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, testified in support and said the substitute refines the bill's language by replacing the prior chronic/acute distinction with a definition that characterizes "complex" versus "non-complex" care; she said the bill allows for a successor accrediting body if the recognized accreditor changes.

After questions about whether the bill would require naming a specific accrediting body in statute, committee Chair (Chairman Press) and members discussed compact boilerplate and statutory placement of accreditation language. Chairman Press moved to report the substitute (LC 520987S); Senator Summers seconded the motion. The committee voted by show of hands, recorded one opposed and otherwise approved the substitute; the chair announced the bill passes out of committee.

The committee did not debate further amendments on the floor; the sponsor said members should bring refinement suggestions if they have drafting concerns about accreditation naming or other details.