(The Center Square) – The Georgia House has passed its version of a state budget for fiscal 2023, approving a 10.8% spending increase over last year’s budget.
The House voted 153-3 in favor of House Bill 911, which includes pay raises for teachers and more money for law enforcement in its $30.2 billion price tag. It now heads to the state Senate for consideration.
Inclusive of other funds, including more than $17.6 billion in federal funds and grants, the House budget exceeds $57.8 billion. The new budget takes effect July 1.
“The strength of Georgia’s economy and our conservative budgeting practices have enabled us to return more than a billion dollars to taxpayers in the same year we are making critical investments in public safety and mental health,” House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, said in a statement after it passed Friday.
The budget proposal includes $11.8 billion in state funds for K-12 education, and officials said it reverses cuts made amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes $291.7 million to give certified teachers a $2,000 pay raise and includes pay increases for other school workers, including nutrition workers, bus drivers and school nurses.
The bill restores $229.6 million to eliminate fees colleges charge students. According to a state analysis, the fees range from $170 per semester at South Georgia State College to $540 per semester at Georgia Tech.
The budget plan allocates an additional $18 million for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to hire 67 additional staff and retain its current staff in the medical examiner’s office and the agency’s forensic labs. It also includes an additional $4.9 million for the Georgia Department of Public Safety to hire state troopers and expand crisis intervention training for officers across the Peach State.
Roughly $16 million would be used to give correctional and juvenile correctional officers a $2,000 salary increase. Lawmakers also included $636 million to give state employees a $5,000 cost-of-living adjustment, which officials said is the first COLA received since fiscal 2008.
Lawmakers included an increase of $16 million to fund salary increases and additional staff for state prosecutors and public defenders. The Georgia Department of Law would see an additional $2 million to hire staff to prosecute human traffickers and gang members.
An additional $5.5 million would fund five new mental health accountability courts, provide raises for accountability court employees and provide additional specialized staff support.
The budget proposal included $1.4 million to increase benefits for retired members of the Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) and $119.6 million to increase the employer contribution rate to the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS).
By T.A. DeFeo | The Center Square contributor
