A Georgia Senate Committee has passed their version of https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/66029.
With the fiscal year more than half over, the midyear budget is usually an opportunity for state lawmakers to tweak the budget items they passed last session. This year, with the state’s cash reserves swelling, legislators are also adding some new spending, including funding for a new medical school at the University of Georgia.
State Senator Blake Tillery, a Republican from Vidalia, chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, which voted on the budget this morning. He says that adding items to the midyear budget, rather than financing them through bonds, makes good fiscal sense.
"The governor's budget proposal takes those items that we normally would fund with bonds and and moves it into funding them with cash," Tillery told his colleagues. "It's a savings that will save our children and grandchildren millions, and it's an extremely smart and prudent move given the current economy."
Tillery also highlighted a package of $1,000 pay increases for state employees, including those at the state’s often-strapped Department of Behavioral Health.
"2,280 employees at the Department of Behavioral Health, the folks that we trust to provide the mental health services for bills that we've passed over these past five years, make less than $40,000," he said.
The midyear budget now moves to the Senate for consideration. Meanwhile, lawmakers continue work on the FY 2025 budget as well