Friends,
It’s been another eventful week at the state Capitol as we swing into the heart of the 2026 legislative session!
We have about four weeks until Crossover Day and plenty of work to do before then, not the least of which is our most important constitutional responsibility, drafting a state budget for Fiscal Year 2027.
Ready to catch up with what we’ve been working on in this week? Then let’s go!
AFY 2026 BUDGET PASSED OUT OF THE HOUSE
(Via the Georgia Recorder, click here to read full article)
Before getting to work on the “Big Budget” for the upcoming fiscal year we first have to pass the “Little Budget,” in which we amend our spending plan for the current year based on unexpected expenses and evolving priorities. (I explained this process in an earlier newsletter, it’s worth a look if you want to learn more about our state budget process!)
The amended FY 2026 state budget is set by a revised revenue estimate of $42.3 billion, and includes $3.3 billion in rainy day funds for a total additional infusion of $4.5 billion, or an increase of 11.9% over the original FY 2026 budget.
On Thursday we overwhelmingly passed HB 973 by a 167-to-5 vote. The budget bill has now been transmitted over to the Senate chamber, where more changes may be made before its final passage.
Some things I particularly like about the AFY 2026 state budget:
(Image source: Wilson Creek Elementary School Instagram)
- $366 million to provide a $2000 pay supplement for all K-12 teachers, administrative staff, custodians, nutrition workers, school nurses, and bus drivers. In addition, $17.2 million has been provided to the Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) to provide a $2000 pay supplement to all teachers and assistant teachers.
- $17.8 million to the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce for graduate medical education expansion programs in south Georgia, to support over 103 new residency spots.
- $4.8 million in the Department of Community Health to establish a new grant program to support rural medical and dental clinics.
(Via the Georgia Recorder, click here to read full article)
- $82.7 million to fund the deficit in the DHS Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) prioritizing reunification services, assessments, and specialized service for high acuity foster youth, along with $1.6 million to restore four foster care support contracts.
- $300 million for the University Systems of Georgia (USG) to provide state-matching funds for an endowment to support the needs-based DREAM Scholarship program.
- $20.7 million for a 40-bed forensic restoration facility at East Central Regional hospital in Augusta and $27 million to begin the design and construction of a new Georgia Regional Hospital in Atlanta, which will significantly improve the state’s mental health and forensic capacity.
Work on the “big budget” for the upcoming fiscal year will begin in earnest next week. I am honored to serve on the House Appropriations Committee and look forward to diving into some of the opportunities we have to actualize some of the state’s key priorities.
TEAM AU BILL TRACKER
(House Health Committee hearing 2/2/2026, watch archived livestream)
I was excited to see movement on two of our priority bills this week, one in the House Health Committee and the other in the House Public and Community Health Committee. (In case it’s not abundantly obvious at this point…my office tends to do a lot of work on health policy.)
Parity in Coverage for Non-Opioid Pain Medications
(Image source: Harmony Treatment and Wellness)
As a practicing anesthesiologist it’s my job to think about pain and how to best treat it. Part of that job is also determining how best to treat pain while minimizing risk to the patient.
Currently, over 165,000 Georgians are struggling with an opioid use disorder, and even more are at risk for an opioid overdose.
When it comes to post-operative or post-injury opioid use, the risk of opioid dependence and addiction increases significantly after only 3-5 days of opiate use, leading to a persistent risk of dependence and addiction. (We’re talking commonly prescribed meds like Percocet, Oxycontin, Lortab, Vicodin.)
Since we recognized that over-liberal prescription patterns in the 1990s and early 2000s seeded the opioid epidemic, most in the medical profession have been working to undo some of this damage by moving away from an overreliance on opioids to treat acute and chronic pain.
To be clear, sometimes opioids are necessary and appropriate. But there are also other medications and therapies available that can work as well as opioids for certain clinical situations, and mitigate the risk of addiction and dependence.
(Via Politico, click here to read full article)
The problem is that while insurance will generally cover opioid prescription costs, they sometimes won’t cover some of these opioid alternative medications or treatments, even if they work as well and decrease patient cost and risk. What this does is create a bias in prescription patterns towards opioids, not because they’re better or safer for all patients, but because it’s simply what insurance will pay for.
That is the problem this bill aims to address, which would require the State Health Benefit Plan to cover qualifying non-opioid pain management medications at rates no less favorable than those for covered opioid-based pain medications.
While the state legislature can only regulate state-run health insurance plans, in tandem with the federal Alternatives to PAIN Act, a bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate, we should be able to ensure these coverage protections for most patients.
I am grateful to Chairman Hawkins (a co-sponsor of HB 326) for hearing this bill, and look forward to it hopefully coming for a vote before Crossover Day.
Regulation and Oversight of Ketamine Clinics
(House Public Health Committee hearing 2/3/2026, watch archived livestream)
I was also excited to see that HB 717, another bipartisan bill of which I am a co-sponsor, advanced out of the House Public and Community Health Committee this Wednesday. This bill would seek to impose some basic regulations, oversight, and requirements of baseline clinical competency for the ketamine clinics that are popping up around the state of Georgia.
So first, some basics.
Ketamine is a powerful dissociative anesthetic with some hallucinatory effects. Since the 1970s, ketamine has been marketed in the United States as an injectable anesthetic for use in humans and animals. In 1999, ketamine became a Schedule III drug (meds with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence) under the Controlled Substances Act. It has a number of specific clinical indications, and a growing list of off-label uses, some of which are still being researched.
These include:
Anesthesia and Procedural Sedation
- General Anesthesia: Used for the induction and maintenance of anesthesia for diagnostic and surgical procedures
- Procedural Sedation: Widely used in emergency departments for brief, painful or emotionally disturbing procedures in both children and adults, such as laceration repair, fracture reduction, and abscess drainage
- Reactive Airways Disease: It is often the preferred intravenous induction agent for patients with active bronchospasm or status asthmaticus due to its bronchodilating properties
Pain Management
- Acute Postoperative Pain: Effective in reducing opioid requirements, pain scores, and postoperative nausea and vomiting in the first 24 hours after surgery, especially orthopedic and abdominal surgeries
- Chronic Pain Syndromes (Off-label): Used for managing various therapy-resistant chronic pain conditions that have a neuropathic component
- Cancer pain that is no longer responsive to high doses of opioids.
(Image source: Harvard Medical School)
Mental Health Conditions
- Treatment-resistant depression (TRD): a specific formulation, esketamine (Spravato®) nasal spray, is FDA-approved for this use in conjunction with an oral antidepressant
- Acute Suicidality: Intravenous ketamine has been shown to rapidly decrease suicidal thoughts in depressed patients with acute suicidal ideation or behavior
- Off-label Psychiatric Uses: Research is ongoing on ketamine as a treatment for bipolar depression, anxiety disorders, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
As an anesthesiologist I am familiar with ketamine and thus have a healthy respect for this medication and its effects. I therefore feel strongly that the passage of HB 717 is a crucial patient and social safety issue. This bill was brought to us by the Georgia Composite Medical Board, which aims to avert some of the harms experienced when underregulated pain medication clinics started popping up around the state in the 1990s and 2000s. It would impose a framework wherein ketamine infusion clinics would be subject to:
- Clinical licensure
- Mandatory rules set by the Composite Medical Board
- Qualified administration and ownership of such clinics
- Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) safeguards
- Enforcement of unlicensed administration
(Via GPB Lawmakers 2/6/2026, click here to watch full video clip)
I was pleased to discuss this bill this week on GPB’s Lawmakers with Donna Lowry. HB 717 passed out of committee on Wednesday, and I hope that we will be able to vote and pass it off the House floor later this week.
THE GEORGIA DIAGNOSIS
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TEAM AU IN ACTION
Atlanta Hong Kong Association Lunar New Year
Such fun joining friends at the Hong Kong Association of Atlanta’s annual Lunar New Year celebration at the Georgia Aquarium! The Year of the Horse symbolizes a period of intense energy, rapid change, and bold action. I look forward to seeing what this upcoming year will bring for us all here in Georgia!
Physicians Day at the Capitol
So pleased to see so many friends and colleagues at the 2026 Physicians Day at the Capitol, organized by the Medical Association of Georgia! It is my particular pleasure to see so many medical students and residents taking time out of their busy training schedule to come join us at The People’s House, and I feel especially hopeful that so many young doctors understand that medical advocacy is a crucial part of public service and patient care.
Interested in getting more time at the Capitol before then? Consider signing up to be the Doctor of the Day! It’s an important public service, a great way to spend some time with lawmakers, and maybe you’ll even get to catch up with some friends!
Cancer Action Day at the Capitol
Grateful to spend time with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network at their day at the Capitol this week, as they worked to support patients and those who care for them.
Particularly given the federal government’s recent attacks on research funding and our public health system overall, advocacy on behalf of patients, caregivers, and scientific institutions is more important than ever. Thank you for all you do, and keep fighting the good fight.
Protecting SNAP Funding
There are few determinants of health more important than access to food, regardless of geography, circumstances, or income. I was proud this week to speak with the coalition of leaders working to protect Georgians’ access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and gratified to see it supported in the state’s amended budget for FY2026 after significant federal budget cuts to the program were passed as part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, which reduces funding by roughly $186 billion over 10 years, the largest cut in the history of the program.
SNAP reduces food insecurity, and lowers health care costs, and significantly bolsters local economies. Furthermore, SNAP funding is a good investment in Georgia’s economy, particularly for our state’s premier industry, agriculture. Every dollar distributed through SNAP generates about $1.50 to $1.80 in economic activity by supporting jobs in grocery stores and providing income to local farmers. This economic stimulus is especially critical during downturns, as SNAP dollars are quickly spent in local grocery stores, directly benefiting the community.
(Via Harvard Kennedy School, click here to read full article)
As we move forward to creating the budget for FY 2027, I will be looking for ways to make up for cuts to SNAP funding while also looking to support HB 500, which updates the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Look for a deeper dive into our TANF modernization bill in an upcoming newsletter!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Please join the Legislative Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus for our third annual Lunar New Year at the Capitol as we welcome the community to The People’s House and ring in the Year of the Horse!
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Georgia State Capitol, South Steps
Lion Dance starts 12PM
Buffet lunch to follow, open to all!
A huge thank you to the Chinese Business Association of Atlanta for helping to sponsor the lunch, provided courtesy of HD 50’s own YiFan Restaurant & Event Center!
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It has never been more important to pay attention to the work of state legislatures. Thank you as ever for your support so that we can keep doing this most important work together.
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to our office should you need any assistance, or if you have any concerns you’d like me to address on your behalf.
It is my honor to be your voice in the Georgia House of Representatives.
In service,
