Georgia's coffers are swelling with surplus, and Gov. Brian Kemp has put pen to paper on a budget that plays it both ways, upping the ante on spending while flashing the scissors for future tax cuts, as reported by WABE. The Republican head honcho, tapping into the state's $10.7 billion surplus gathered over the past three years, rubber-stamped a $36.1 billion state spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year, starting on a high note July 1 with cash injections into key areas such as education, health care, and mental health.
The buzz at the state Capitol was all about distribution of Georgia's financial blessings as Kemp, speaking with reporters after the budget signing, declared this year’s legislative session "offered something for everybody" showing a balancing act of increasing teacher pay and strengthening state services while aiming to slim down the state income tax rate below 5% in the coming times. Despite state tax revenues on the decline, the surefooted governor assured that this fiscal prudence was crafted to keep Georgia robust on rainy days and sunny ones alike, keeping the rainy day fund filled to its brim at $5.4 billion, which is 15% of state revenue, and still having over $8 billion to play with after budget allocations, as reported by WABE.
Teachers and state employees aren't left out in the cold; starting July 1, public school pedagogues are looking at a $2,500 salary increase, catapulting average pay to possibly $67,000 per year adding to the $1,000 bonus they bagged last December, whereas state and university staff are set for a 4% pay jump, up to $70,000 in salary, "We also want to be prepared in the future with our commitment to continue to cut taxes, which we have a plan to take the rate down below 5%," Kemp mentioned, eyeing a fiscally sound horizon, according to WABE.
Not just salaries, but schools and healthcare are also on the receiving end of the budget's generosity, with $200 million earmarked for school districts to modernize their fleets of school buses and a hefty $104 million to bolster school security, as schools are set to receive $45,000 grants each. Healthcare providers will find their coffers a bit heavier as the state is doling out more than $160 million to ramp up payments to a spectrum of health services from nursing homes to therapists, in a multi-pronged effort to improve the state's healthcare landscape. According to Kemp's measured fiscal mantra, it's about plowing money into priorities while keeping the ledger balanced, and it looks like Georgia is aiming to keep that balance sheet as healthy as its teachers and first responders.
