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Senate committee clears DPH "cleanup" bill removing dormant boards and obsolete reporting
Summary
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously approved SB 440, an agency bill that removes outdated statutory requirements and dormant advisory bodies from Department of Public Health code while preserving existing programs, sponsors said.
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee on a unanimous voice vote advanced SB 440, a Department of Public Health agency bill designed to remove obsolete code sections and dormant advisory bodies without cutting active programs.
Sponsor senators and DPH staff told the committee the measure strips outdated marriage-related brochure requirements written in the 1980s, removes a 1973 "marriage manual" mandate and eliminates references to advisory committees and positions that have been vacant for years — including a cancer advisory committee and a cancer control officer that the sponsor said has no record of ever being filled. Megan Andrews of the Department of Public Health was available to answer technical questions.
"This bill cleans up outdated and unused sections of the Georgia code, aligns the statute with current DPH programs and partnerships, and reduces unfunded mandates without affecting services," the sponsor said, noting the changes are intended to improve transparency and free staff time by removing requirements that are no longer meaningful.
Committee members asked about specific deletions and whether changes could introduce gaps: members questioned removing brochure requirements for HIV and sickle-cell testing, the replacement of the "president of the Senate" language with "lieutenant governor" in one provision, and whether statutes requiring annual reports for grant programs would be subject to appropriations. DPH staff and the sponsor said much of the consumer information is now posted online rather than distributed in paper brochures and that several committees and positions referenced in statute are dormant or unfunded.
One senator noted that some statutory language dates to the 1970s and 1980s and asked that legislative counsel review a provision changing a legislative title to avoid creating an unintended succession question; the sponsor agreed to consult counsel. The committee then moved and seconded the bill and voted to report it out of committee unanimously.
The committee did not take the measure to the floor during the hearing; the bill will proceed according to Senate rules and scheduling.
