(Georgia Recorder) – The Georgia House of Representatives approved a $38.5 billion state budget for next year on Tuesday with significant spending aimed at improving childhood literacy across the state.
House Bill 974, which will fund state government beginning on July 1, passed with a 159-4 vote and now moves to the Senate.
The House’s proposed budget includes $60.8 million for literacy initiatives, which House Speaker Jon Burns says is the chamber’s “number one priority” this session. That funding will support House Bill 1193, sponsored by Homer Republican state Rep. Chris Erwin, which passed the House in late February on a 170-2 vote and would place literacy coaches in elementary schools and provide one-time $15,000 grants to public school systems to buy vision and hearing screening equipment.
“This is a massive down payment on a historic investment that will get our kindergarten to third graders reading on grade level, effectively moving them from learning to read to reading to learn,” said Rep. Matt Hatchett, Republican from Dublin and chair of the House Appropriations committee, during the floor presentation.
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The House also allocated $252 million to fund enrollment growth at the university and technical college systems. The proposed House budget also offers $9.7 million in lottery funds to expand pre-K programs and another $2 million to provide meals to children in need during the summer.
In health care, the budget focuses heavily on rural access and mental health. It includes about $45 million to increase reimbursement rates for providers that accept Medicaid patients. It also includes $18.2 million to train providers in underserved areas, with the goal of retaining them long-term.
The House proposed budget also provides the Department of Corrections with an increase of $101 million, with a portion of that – $34.9 million – being dedicated to hiring more officers to reduce the state’s inmate-to-officer ratio.
The passage of the “big budget,” as lawmakers call it, comes a week after Gov. Brian Kemp signed the amended budget, which funds the government through June. The amended budget allocated $612 million for a $2,000 pay supplement for teachers and state workers, as well as about $409 million for a new mental health hospital, $325 million for a new needs-based college aid program and $50 million for homelessness assistance.
That budget also includes funding for a one-time income tax rebate, property relief grants and an income tax rate reduction.
“This isn’t the government’s money. It is the people of Georgia’s money,” Kemp said during the signing ceremony.
While Burns was optimistic about the upcoming negotiations with the Senate, saying they have been in conversation with leaders in the upper chamber “from day one” on his literacy priority, he recognized that the work ahead could be challenging.
“The Senate will have some good ideas as well,” Burns said. “We’re going to do the right thing for Georgians.”
