ATLANTA – Georgia Governor Nathan Deal “cannot waive a law through executive order,” the state’s Attorney General advised Monday — even if the order would right a glitch in a law that is affecting as many as 100 people, among them — a military veteran.

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Attorney General Sam Olens (R) advised Gov. Deal (R) on a situation involving a former Army nurse, Beth Linderborg.

Linderborg was trained at the U.S. Army-AMEDD at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. It’s one of the most respected nursing programs in the country. But the state of Georgia doesn’t recognize it.

“When I was 19, I went into the Army and I went through the Army Practical Nurse Course,” Linderborg said. “I was drawn to Emory, did some research, did some research on Georgia, and came here in July.”

She accepted a job at Emory, packed her belongings, and moved to Atlanta from California, getting her five-year-old daughter settled into her new school before she was to begin her job September 12.

She applied for her Georgia nursing license before she left California. She assumed it wouldn’t be an issue because she was already licensed in three states. But the letter from the Georgia Board for Licensed Practical Nurses told her that her application had been rejected.

Linderborg said she was told that “I was not eligible, that the program that I went through was not recognized regionally by the state of Georgia.”

A flawed state law, passed in the legislature two years ago, prevents Sgt. Linderborg from getting a nursing license in Georgia.

“This was an unintended consequence, which I plan to fix the minute we go back into session again,” said state Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta), who wrote the 2009 law. The Georgia General Assembly will reconvene in January.

Cooper said the 2009 law was needed to protect the state from nursing applicants coming out of disreputable online nursing programs. To do that, the new law had to be very specific about what types of nursing programs Georgia could accept.

“And at the time, nobody brought up the Army,” Cooper said.

The law’s glitch has affected about 100 nursing license applicants.

Monday, a spokesman for Gov. Deal told 11Alive News that Attorney General Olens advised the Governor that an executive order cannot waive the law.

That means Linderborg will have to wait until at least January, when the Georgia General Assembly reconvenes, for a new law that would fix the glitch to be passed.

Six weeks into her ordeal, Sgt. Linderborg is growing desperate, both emotionally and financially.

Asked if she can financially make it until January, Linderborg says, “No, not here in Georgia. Not at this rate. No.”

Lindenborg is proud of her service, but for now, all of that training is keeping her from earning a living in Georgia.

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Article source: http://www.11alive.com/news/article/210311/40/EMORY-Governor-cant-waive-laws-glitch-AG-says