The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a revised 2025 budget that includes billions of dollars in additional spending on everything from hurricane relief and prisons to Super Bowl 2028.
The $40.5 billion budget largely tracks the priorities Gov. Brian Kemp announced in his budget proposal last month. Like the governor’s proposal, the House version boosts spending by $4.4 billion for the remainder of fiscal year 2025, which ends June 30.
Like Kemp’s budget, the House spending plan includes $500 million to shore up the state employee retirement system, $530 million for highway construction to promote freight movement and $502 million to support new surface water access for the booming Georgia coast.
But the House budget also includes some significant variations from Kemp’s plan. It adds $197 million more for Hurricane Helene relief. That includes $150 million more in aid to the farmers and timber producers who suffered losses and $35.6 million for rural hospitals affected by the storm.
The budget also tweaks Kemp’s plan to improve Georgia’s troubled prison system. Among other things, it saves $46.6 million by funding two instead of four modular units to temporarily house inmates while regular facilities are improved. It also spends more on new correctional officers, raises for private prison employees and equipment such as body cameras and Tasers.
The House budget cuts millions of dollars in payroll across various departments to account for the fact that many employees won’t be hired for months. And it adds tens of millions of dollars in spending for scores of priorities — including some interesting tidbits buried deep in the fine print.
It includes $7 million for the Georgia World Congress Center Authority for public safety and infrastructure costs for major sporting events, including the 2028 Super Bowl and the 2031 NCAA Men’s Final Four. Among other things, it also adds $12.5 million for graduate medical education, $1.7 million to rescue sexually exploited foster children and $200,000 to process donated venison.
The House approved the budget by a vote of 166 to 3. It now goes to the Senate, which will make its own proposed changes. A final version will be worked out in negotiations between Kemp and legislators.
Meanwhile, the House will begin hearings next week on Kemp’s proposed budget for fiscal 2026, which begins in July.
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