---
type: "Bill"
title: "Occupational diseases; define certain terms; provisions"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 1 of Article 8 of Chapter 9 of Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to compensation for occupational diseases, so as to define certain terms; to provide for a rebuttable presumption that certain medical conditions suffered by firefighters are occupational diseases; to provide for applicability; to provide for benefits; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2015_16"
identifier: "HB 216"
citation: "Georgia HB 216 (2015_16)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Alan Powell", "Bill Hitchens", "Dustin Hightower", "Keisha Waites", "Micah Gravley", "Sam Watson"]
version_count: 12
action_count: 19
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2015-02-03"
last_action: "2016-05-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5e6f90ed-542a-469a-9d17-54362d3bf861"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "8b3367c9d30c1b4cf02493f43d00f8870c2f8ea05347e4a3130bd573330822c6"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ga"]
---

# Georgia HB 216 (2015_16) — Occupational diseases; define certain terms; provisions

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 1 of Article 8 of Chapter 9 of Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to compensation for occupational diseases, so as to define certain terms; to provide for a rebuttable presumption that certain medical conditions suffered by firefighters are occupational diseases; to provide for applicability; to provide for benefits; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB 216/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/162294.pdf)
2. **LC 21 3608/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/146799.pdf)
3. **LC 36 2784S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/151057.pdf)
4. **LC 36 2993S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/158847.pdf)
5. **LC 36 2993S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/157807.pdf)
6. **SCSFA to HB216** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/161984.pdf)
7. **Sen ctee sub LC 37 2222S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/160463.pdf)
8. **Sen floor amend 1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/161927.pdf)
9. **Sen floor amend 2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/161953.pdf)
10. **Sen floor amend 2a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/161964.pdf)
11. **Sen floor amend 3** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/161973.pdf)
12. **Sen floor amend 4** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20152016/161974.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **148–19** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Alan Powell — primary (person)
- Bill Hitchens — primary (person)
- Dustin Hightower — primary (person)
- Keisha Waites — primary (person)
- Micah Gravley — primary (person)
- Sam Watson — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2015-02-03** House Hopper
- **2015-02-04** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2015-02-09** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2015-03-13** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2015-04-02** House Withdrawn, Recommitted `referral-committee, withdrawal`
- **2016-02-17** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2016-02-25** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2016-02-25** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2016-02-26** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2016-03-15** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2016-03-15** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2016-03-22** Senate Tabled
- **2016-03-24** Senate Taken from Table
- **2016-03-24** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2016-03-24** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2016-03-24** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2016-04-01** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2016-05-03** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2016-05-03** Veto V3 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5e6f90ed-542a-469a-9d17-54362d3bf861`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).