Sen. Chuck Hufstetler (R – Rome) has been appointed by Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan to serve as Chair of the Senate Study Committee on Evaluating and Simplifying Physician Oversight of Physician Assistants and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses.

“I am honored to be chosen to chair this Study Committee and look forward to looking into a topic that has been the subject of a lot of legislation and conversations over the past several years,” said Sen. Hufstetler. “By working with the many interested parties and hearing various points of view, I am sure we can come to an agreeable conclusion. I look forward to learning, listening and evaluating current regulations in our state to create streamlined regulations that work for everyone.”

“Georgians expect their elected leaders to make deliberate, informed decisions to better our state,” said Lt. Governor Duncan. “The study committee process allows our Senators to dedicate extensive focus to a single issue and generate in-depth proposals for our next legislative session. I look forward to the hard work of Chairman Hufstetler and the appointed members of the Senate Study Committee on Evaluating and Simplifying Physician Oversight of Physician Assistants and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses as they meet to study, discuss, and prepare legislative action items for the Senate to consider in 2020.”

The Senate Study Committee on Evaluating and Simplifying Physician Oversight of Physician Assistants and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses was created by the passage of Senate Resolution 202 during the 2019 Legislative Session. As stated in the resolution, the committee shall be comprised of five members of the Senate. Members of the study committee will review the current regulations surrounding physician oversight, the various state licensing boards that govern the parties and the realities of implementing the regulations in practice. The committee must report its findings on or before December 1, 2019.