Bill Text: GA SB22 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Georgia Coordinating Council for Rural and Human Services Transportation; establish

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-04-29 - House Withdrawn, Recommitted [SB22 Detail]

Download: Georgia-2009-SB22-Engrossed.html

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10 LC 34 2444S (SCS)

Senate Bill 22

By: Senators Stoner of the 6th, Williams of the 19th, Orrock of the 36th, Mullis of the 53rd and Pearson of the 51st

AS PASSED SENATE

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

To amend Title 32 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to highways, bridges, and ferries, so as to establish the Georgia Coordinating Committee for Rural and Human Services Transportation to encourage efficient transportation service delivery in the rural areas of the state and to coordinate human service transportation services in both the rural and urban areas of the state; to provide for legislative findings; to provide for the membership, meetings, and expenses of such committee; to provide for advisory committees; to provide for the duties of the committee; to provide for an annual report; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.

Title 32 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to highways, bridges, and ferries, is amended by adding a new chapter to read as follows:

"CHAPTER 12

32-12-1.

The General Assembly finds that there exist a number of programs designed to provide rural and human services transportation and that frequently these services are provided over large geographic areas through various funding sources which are frequently targeted to narrowly defined client bases. The sheer number of such programs lends itself to a need for coordination among the programs and agencies which implement them so as to best assist economies in purchasing equipment and operating these many programs, to better serve the taxpayers of the state in ensuring the most cost-effective delivery of these services, and to best serve the clients utilizing the transportation services provided through these programs.

32-12-2.

There is hereby created the Georgia Coordinating Committee for Rural and Human Services Transportation of the Governor's Development Council.

32-12-3.

The Georgia Coordinating Committee for Rural and Human Services Transportation and its advisory subcommittees shall meet not less often than quarterly. Administrative expenses of the committee shall be borne by the Governor's Development Council. The members of the committee shall receive no extra compensation or reimbursement of expenses from the state for their services as members of the committee.

32-12-4.

The Georgia Coordinating Committee for Rural and Human Services Transportation shall establish the State Advisory Subcommittee for Rural and Human Services Transportation which shall consist of the State School Superintendent and the commissioners of the Department of Transportation, Department of Human Services, Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Department of Community Health, Department of Labor, the Governor's Development Council, and the Department of Community Affairs or their respective designees. The commissioner of transportation or his or her designee shall serve as chairperson of the State Advisory Subcommittee for Rural and Human Services Transportation. The Georgia Coordinating Committee for Rural and Human Services Transportation may also establish such additional advisory subcommittees as it deems appropriate to fulfill its mission which shall consist of a representative of each metropolitan planning organization and representatives from each regional commission in this state and may include other local government representatives; private and public sector transportation providers, both for profit and nonprofit; voluntary transportation programs representatives; public transit system representatives, both rural and urban; and representatives of the clients served by the various programs administered by the agencies represented on the State Advisory Subcommittee for Rural and Human Services Transportation. Members of advisory committees shall be responsible for their own expenses and shall receive no compensation or reimbursement of expenses from the Georgia Coordinating Committee for Rural and Human Services Transportation, the State Advisory Subcommittee for Rural and Human Services Transportation, or the state for their services as members of an advisory committee.

32-12-5.

The Georgia Coordinating Committee for Rural and Human Services Transportation shall examine the manner in which transportation services are provided by the participating agencies represented on the committee. Such examination shall include but not be limited to:

(1) An analysis of all programs administered by participating agencies, including capital and operating costs, and overlapping or duplication of services among such programs, with emphasis on how to overcome such overlapping or duplication;

(2) The means by which transportation services are coordinated among state, local, and federal funding source programs;

(3) The means by which both capital and operating costs for transportation could be combined or shared among agencies, including at a minimum shared purchase of vehicles and maintenance of such vehicles;

(4) An analysis of those areas which might appropriately be consolidated to lower the costs of program delivery without sacrificing program quality to clients, including shared use of vehicles for client trips regardless of the funding source which pays for their trips;

(5) An analysis of state of the art efforts to coordinate rural and human services transportation elsewhere in the nation, including at a minimum route scheduling so as to avoid duplicative trips in a given locality;

(6) A review of any limitations which may be imposed by various federally funded programs and how the state can manage within those limitations as they review possible sharing opportunities;

(7) An analysis of how agency programs interact with and impact state, local, or regional transportation services performed on behalf of the general public through state, local, or regional transit systems;

(8) An evaluation of potential cost sharing opportunities available for clients served by committee agencies so as to maximize service delivery efficiencies and to obtain the maximum benefit on their behalf with the limited amount of funds available; and

(9) An analysis of possible methods to reduce costs, including, but not limited to, greater use of privatization.

32-12-6.

No later than July 1 of each year, the Governor's Development Council shall submit the preliminary report of the Georgia Coordinating Committee for Rural and Human Services Transportation to the members of the State Advisory Subcommittee for Rural and Human Services Transportation. Comments and recommendations may be submitted to the Governor's Development Council for a period of 30 days. No later than September 1 of each year, the Governor's Development Council shall submit a final report to the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget for review and consideration. The report shall address each of the specific duties enumerated in Code Section 32-12-5 and such other subject areas within its purview as the Governor's Development Council shall deem appropriate. Each report shall focus on existing conditions in coordination of rural and human services transportation within the state and shall make specific recommendations for means to improve such current practices. Such recommendations shall address at a minimum both their cost implications and impact on client service. No later than January 15 of each year, the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget shall submit the final report of the Governor's Development Council and any affiliated budget recommendations to the presiding officers of the General Assembly, with copies of said report sent to the chairpersons of the transportation committees, the appropriations committees, and the health and human services committees of each chamber of the General Assembly."

SECTION 2.

This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.

SECTION 3.

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.