The Governor’s Office announced this week that it is backing an initiative to expand Georgia’s access to medical equipment through incentives to entice companies to call Georgia ‘home.’
Governor Brian Kemp’s office said Friday that House Bill 304, donned the Georgia Made Medical Manufacturing Act, has the support of his office. The measure is sponsored by Rep. Jodi Lott, one of Kemp’s floor leaders.
The measure is one of Kemp’s 2021 Legislative Initiatives and seeks to incentivize the production of medicines and medical devices in Georgia, “limiting the state’s need to compete with other states or foreign nations for critical supplies.”
“One of the lessons we learned early on in the pandemic is that we cannot waste time in bidding wars with others for life-saving supplies,” Governor Kemp said in press release. “Last session, we incentivized the production of PPE in the Peach State to alleviate that problem, build up our stockpile, and make it easier to stay in business in the era of COVID-19. HB 304 is a natural next step to that program and will help us build on Georgia’s momentum to become a leader in all sectors of the health care industry. No one state or nation should hold a monopoly on critical medicines and medical supplies, and we should bring these industries and the jobs that come with them back to America and here to Georgia.”
Last year, the Georgia General Assembly passed the PPE Tax Credit to incentivize manufacturers of personal protective equipment, including those existing Georgia manufacturers which did not traditionally manufacture PPE but began doing so in response to COVID-19. This bill is a tangential approach to the field as a whole modeled after what the legislature approved last year. The focus is increasing the amount of credit available under the Jobs Tax Credit to incentivize job creation and investment in the medical equipment and pharmaceutical manufacturing industries.
This measure will work to ensure collaboration between the public and private sector in Georgia to cultivate long-term growth and development of the state’s health care ecosystem. Currently, the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s COVID-19 Suppliers Map features more than 350 suppliers of PPE throughout the state. The map is available for viewing here.
