The Georgia Senate on Thursday backed a midyear budget that adds $5 billion in spending, including money for a new medical school at the University of Georgia, roads, rural airports, local water and sewer projects, and rural economic development programs.
The Senate voted 54-1 to back a spending plan through June 30 that largely follows what Gov. Brian Kemp and the House supported, although with some changes.
The leaders of both chambers will now work to come to a final $37.5 billion budget that runs through the final four months of fiscal 2024.
One area of disagreement: The House supported $5 million for technology to give officials the ability to audit the text of every choice on a ballot without using the QR codes. House and Senate Republicans — stirred by opposition to QR codes on voter ballots — want to get rid of the feature. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said it can’t be done until after the 2024 election, and the auditing technology is a stopgap measure.
Senate Republicans asked Raffensperger to agree that nobody in his office “will benefit financially from the software development or procurement in the implementation of this pilot project.” They said Raffensperger’s office wouldn’t agree to that stipulation, so they nixed the House funding.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
However, Senate Appropriations Chairman Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, indicated the Senate may have a change of heart if Raffensperger agrees to the stipulation in coming days.
The Senate backed most of the spending hikes Kemp proposed in January, even though state tax collections have been slow for much of the past year and are not projected to improve anytime soon.
But with $16 billion in “rainy day” and undesignated reserves, Kemp and lawmakers see the midyear budget as a chance to allocate money for big construction and infrastructure projects that will both better prepare the state for the future and put more Georgians to work.
The state spent about $26.6 billion — excluding federal funding — in fiscal 2020, the last budget plan approved before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. This year, it will be $37.5 billion, of which $2 billion would come out of “undesignated” reserves.
The budget covers a range of major infrastructure and education projects, including a new medical school at UGA, a new dental school at Georgia Southern University, large-scale computer system upgrades, more money for sewer improvements and massive spending on building roads. The state would spend an additional $1.5 billion alone on road building and maintenance.
The state would also spend $40 million on renovations at the Atlanta Farmers Market, and $450 million would go for a new state-of-the-art prison in Washington County as well.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The midyear budget passed by the House and now the Senate panel includes $29.25 million for public safety and infrastructure costs related to the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship events in Atlanta.
The General Assembly is run by rural lawmakers, and so Kemp and the House and Senate leaders also included big money for projects in those areas.
The budget would put $100 million into supporting rural economic development projects and expanding grant opportunities for rural site development. The House added $27 million for aid to small-town airports, another favorite program for rural legislators. The Senate pumped that up to $98 million.
The panel went along with Kemp’s proposal to spend $500 million propping up the state’s pension system for retired state workers. Lawmakers have said they hope that will mean in the future a return to providing cost-of-living increases for retirees, something they have rarely received since 2008.
The Senate panel backed adding $11 million to Kemp’s emergency fund, some of which could go to pay for his recent decision to send more National Guard troops to the southern border to curb illegal crossings.
