---
type: "Bill"
title: "Physicians; limited provisional licenses and a pathway to licensure for certain internationally trained physicians; provide"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 2 of Chapter 34 of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to medical practice relative to physicians, so as to provide for limited provisional licenses and a pathway to licensure for certain internationally trained physicians; to provide for definitions; to provide for qualifications and conditions; to provide for penalties, license sanctions, and enforcement; to provide for one or more medical directors; to provide for annual reports; to provide for rules, regulations and procedures; to provide for conditional automatic repeal; to provide for related matters; to provide for a contingent effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2025_26"
identifier: "SB 427"
citation: "Georgia SB 427 (2025_26)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["HEALTH", "PROFESSIONS AND BUSINESSES"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ben Watson", "Bo Hatchett", "Chuck Hufstetler", "Chuck Payne", "Ed Setzler", "Jason Anavitarte", "Kay Kirkpatrick", "Kim Jackson", "Marty Harbin", "Matt Brass", "Nan Orrock", "Randy Robertson", "Sally Harrell", "Sonya Halpern"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 15
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-01-27"
last_action: "2026-05-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a0fce21f-014c-4c10-a756-6bfee84e8187"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "08efcc25059962e15fd9c65c5a1b48667f113ddb8e2cd8cef04aac1c54a50841"
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 SB 427 (2025_26) — Physicians; limited provisional licenses and a pathway to licensure for certain internationally trained physicians; provide

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 2 of Chapter 34 of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to medical practice relative to physicians, so as to provide for limited provisional licenses and a pathway to licensure for certain internationally trained physicians; to provide for definitions; to provide for qualifications and conditions; to provide for penalties, license sanctions, and enforcement; to provide for one or more medical directors; to provide for annual reports; to provide for rules, regulations and procedures; to provide for conditional automatic repeal; to provide for related matters; to provide for a contingent effective date; 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. **As Passed Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/243548.pdf)
2. **As introduced LC 52 0940** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/240436.pdf)
3. **Committee Sub LC 52 1007S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/241593.pdf)
4. **Floor Amend 1 AM 49 0289** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/243428.pdf)
5. **LC 46 1510S/hss** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/245617.pdf)
6. **SB 427/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/247108.pdf)

## Votes

- Senate Vote #565 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **45–3** (pass) · upper
- Senate Vote #797 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **46–4** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #720 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **165–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ben Watson — primary (person)
- Bo Hatchett — primary (person)
- Chuck Hufstetler — primary (person)
- Chuck Payne — primary (person)
- Ed Setzler — primary (person)
- Jason Anavitarte — primary (person)
- Kay Kirkpatrick — primary (person)
- Kim Jackson — primary (person)
- Marty Harbin — primary (person)
- Matt Brass — primary (person)
- Nan Orrock — primary (person)
- Randy Robertson — primary (person)
- Sally Harrell — primary (person)
- Sonya Halpern — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-27** Senate Hopper `introduction`
- **2026-01-28** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-05** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-06** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-20** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2026-02-20** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2026-02-24** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2026-02-25** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2026-03-10** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-18** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2026-03-18** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2026-03-23** Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub
- **2026-04-10** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-05-11** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2026-05-11** Act 509 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a0fce21f-014c-4c10-a756-6bfee84e8187`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).