By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support local journalism.
Picking up pace leading to Crossover
Steve Gooch
Steve Gooch
As of Thursday, we have completed 14 of our 40 legislative days for the 2018 legislative session. We are drawing closer to Crossover Day and the workload for committees has increased along with several bills passing on the Senate Floor. On Jan. 29, we passed two pieces of legislation addressing the Employee Retirement System (ERS). Senate Bill 101 would allow employees who meet certain criteria and participate in the Georgia Defined Contribution Plan to buy into the ERS. Senate Bill 129 would allow former military servicemen who served on or after Jan. 1, 1990 to receive retirement credit through the ERS. We unanimously passed Senate Bill 321 on Jan. 30. This legislation addresses Georgia’s current Medicaid fraud reimbursement process. By passing SB 321, 45 percent of Medicaid fraud reimbursements will stay here in Georgia instead of the 35 percent currently collected by the state. This means that the percent that goes to the Federal government will be lowered by 10 percent and the minimum Medicaid fraud penalty fee will increase from $5,500 to $11,181.