[ February 08, 2022 ] I am glad I live where we do. We were not in session on Friday, and Marcia and I had errands and folks to see for business all around town. I was blown away by the friendliness of folks, saying, "Hi," and asking how things were going, filling me in on what was going on that I may not know about. When I got back in my truck to go home, I just smiled.

This week at the Capitol was pretty contentious, as we were voting on the ability of some citizens to vote on creating new cities and new maps for school boards or commissioners. A lot of for and against speeches were made. They all passed, but whew (!)..

Our committees are very busy right now asking questions of bill sponsors about their bills and passing some out of committee. Yes some, as not all bills make it through the committee process.

One bill that made it through the committee process and we voted on was the Truth in Prescription Pricing for Patients Act (HB 867): This bill aims to require pharmacy benefits managers to provide more transparency in the cost of drugs. Under this legislation, the pharmacy benefits managers would have to disclose the true net cost of what the drug cost to purchase at a pharmacy minus any eligible rebates. I have heard from plenty of constituents about the high price of pharmaceuticals, and this bill is an attempt to address this important issue. I supported the effort to provide more transparency in medical costs and expect that it will ultimately result in decreased costs to the patient.

We passed bipartisan legislation this week to help prevent wrongful convictions in criminal trials. House Bill 478 would change the standard for admissible court evidence and testimony in criminal cases to match the standard used in civil cases. Since the early 1990s, Georgia?s federal court system has used this same standard for expert testimony, but our state?s criminal courts have not. This new standard would provide a list of factors that a judge may consider to help determine the admissibility of scientific evidence or witness testimony. Without this standard, wrongful convictions have occurred in criminal cases due to unreliable scientific evidence. In the last 30 years, faulty scientific evidence admitted under the current standard has contributed to at least 25 out of nearly 40 documented wrongful convictions in Georgia. Fortunately, HB 478 would raise this standard and act as a gatekeeper to protect the integrity of the scientific evidence and expert witness testimony allowed in our criminal courts.

We also passed House Bill 385 to help address the teacher shortage in Georgia. This legislation would allow retired certified pre-K and K-12 teachers who have obtained 30 years of creditable service to return to the classroom full-time while receiving their full retirement benefits. After one-year of retirement, eligible members of the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia would be able to return to work in an ?area of highest need.? These subject areas would be designated by the Georgia Department of Education in tandem with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission and would vary based on determinations from each school system?s Regional Education Service Agency (RESA). Under this bill, the state would also conduct a performance audit on the value, necessity, and impact of retired teachers returning to our classrooms full-time to measure the effectiveness of the legislation.

I have received quite a few emails and calls at the Capitol in the past week from interested folks about certain bills. Good to hear from you, and I want to encourage you to let us know what you?re thinking, or let us try to answer questions you may have heard about certain legislation. You can contact me at the Capitol at 404-646-7153, and you can email me at rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov, or stop me in the grocery store or wherever in town.

As always, thank you for allowing me to serve as your State Representative; look forward to hearing from you.