Governor signs state’s budget into law
House Bill 76 breaks down the funding for next year’s $40 billion budget. Deal says this will keep Georgia moving forward in education, public safety, economic development, health care, and other key areas.
“Our decisions on what to fund each year carry a great deal of weight,” Deal said. “I commend the General Assembly for working with me to produce a balanced budget that reflects the needs of our agencies and the people of this great state.”
Georgia provides about $21.8 billion of the funding. The remainder comes from federal funding.
Deal says the state is seeing an increase in revenue this year compared to last year. Some key funding areas include:
- An increase of over half a billion dollars in funding for K-12 education
- Funding for the continued development of the Georgia Film Academy
- An expansion of the number of strategic industries for which the full cost of tuition is covered for Georgia’s technical college students
- $36 million for services for Georgia’s children in need, including funding for additional caseworkers and money to implement the Child Welfare Reform Council’s recommendations
- Funding for tools needed to make the new “hub and spoke” model for rural hospitals a success
- An additional $19.7 million to continue the state’s criminal justice reforms
Deal says the additional funding for education will be used by local school districts to eliminate furlough days and much more.
“It will allow them to give raises to teachers and some systems have already dedicated much of their money to doing exactly that,” Deal said. “It will also give them the ability to provide even further education and training for teachers.”
The budget also shifts about $103 million in costs from some part-time school employees’ health insurance to local districts. Lawmakers included raises for the state’s top judges and about $1 billion toward construction projects around the state.
The fiscal year starts on July 1st.
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