BILL YEARTA: Legislature passes Amended FY 2022 Budget

It is hard to believe that we have already completed five weeks of this year’s legislative session. It was a busy week as we continued to review legislation in our respective committees as well as voting several bills out of the House chamber, including the Amended Fiscal Year 2022 budget. We also had the opportunity to hear from Chief Justice David Nahmias, as he delivered the annual State of the Judiciary address.

Amended Fiscal Year 2022 Budget: Perhaps most importantly, we completed the first half of our constitutional budget duties through the passage of House Bill 910, also known as the AFY 2022 Budget. The final version of the amended budget was based on a revenue estimate of $27.2 billion. However, at the current rate, we have amended the AFY to estimate closer to $29.8 billion. This means our state will most certainly have continued economic growth despite impacts of the pandemic. As we anticipate $2.6 billion in new funds, these revenue increases will allow us to allocate funds to high-priority needs like health, education, public safety, and infrastructure.

AFY 2022 Budget Highlights include:

♦ More than $900 million to the state’s infrastructure needs, such as replacing agency vehicles and school buses, upgrading state technology, repairs, infrastructure, and design for state facilities;

♦ More than $900 million for salary increases for state employees, educators and other school employees;

♦ $11.16 billion, or 43.3 percent of the general budget, will go toward the K-12 education system, which will fully restore the Quality Basic Education formula;

♦ $263 million to meet the projected need from increased enrollment in the state’s Medicaid program;

♦ An additional $1.7 million for the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce to fully fund residents in graduate medical education programs;

♦ $1.3 million to support the judicial system.

While we have completed the first major steps within our budget process, nothing will be finalized until later in the session.

State of the Judiciary: During a joint session, Chief Justice David Nahmias gave the annual State of the Judiciary address, updating the legislature on what our courts have accomplished over the past year, as well as outlining what lies ahead for our judicial branch. Nahmias reported that throughout the pandemic, the courts remained open by leveraging the use of technology.

Nahmias also touted the state’s substantial federal American Rescue Plan Act grant funding that was recently allocated to the judicial system to address case backlogs, with priority being given to serious violent felony cases, such as murder, armed robbery, and aggravated sex crimes.

Looking toward the goals of our legislative session, the chief justice agrees that the state’s mental health care crisis is priority, especially given that those with mental illnesses are more likely to be incarcerated than properly hospitalized, which in turn strains our prison systems. While the state’s accountability courts have been successful in dealing with offenders suffering from behavioral health issues, he reminded us that there is still a great amount of work to be done in this area of concern.

On Valentines Day, we returned for the sixth week under the Gold Dome. With the completion of 15 legislative days, we are coming closer to our halfway point, legislative day 20. As bills continue to make their way through the legislative process, please contact me with any questions or concerns you have regarding potential policies that may impact our district. Thank you for allowing me to serve our home under the Gold Dome. It is a pleasure and honor to do so.