ATLANTA, GEORGIA – Franklin, Hart and Madison County State Representative Alan Powell has been hearing testimony on the state’s financial situation in advance of this years budgeting.
To begin the process of the General Assembly’s constitutional mandate to pass a balanced budget each year, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees held a series of joint budget hearings Jan. 17-19. The meetings began with a briefing from Gov. Nathan Deal, who reviewed the highlights of his proposals for the annual budget for fiscal year 2013 as well as the midyear budget for the remainder of fiscal year 2012, which ends June 30.
Before last month, when state tax collections declined by 1.2 percent, Georgia had seen 18 consecutive months of revenue growth, putting the revenue estimate for 2013 at $19.2 billion. State revenues are up 5.2 percent overall for the first six months of the current fiscal year.
With this increase, the governor said he hopes to end some of the major cuts to public education that have shifted the tax burden to the local level, while investing in schools and infrastructure projects, fill holes in Medicaid and ensure our prisons are fully equipped to keep dangerous criminals off the street.
State Economist Kenneth Heaghney told lawmakers that he is forecasting a slow, steady growth which would not see Georgia reaching its peak general fund revenues seen in 2007 until fiscal year 2015. Overall per-capita spending in the budget plan for next year, when adjusted for inflation, is 20.5 percent less than the fiscal year 2002 budget.
This means we must remain committed to maintaining a conservative budget and lean state government. It is with this sense of fiscal responsibility that Georgia is one of only eight states that have managed to keep the AAA bond rating from all three rating agencies. This top rating has saved taxpayers $11 million over the life of bonds sold last year alone.
During the budget meetings, committee members heard budget requests from the heads of more than 20 state agencies and departments, including University System Chancellor Hank Huckaby, Secretary of State Brian Kemp, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black and Chief Justice Carol Hunstein, who spoke on behalf of the judicial branch of government.
Chancellor Huckaby said that continuing increases in tuition and fees have caused as many as 700 students to drop out of classes at some of the state’s larger campuses. He said the University System would begin to slow down the pace of these increases. To save money, the Regents recently approved a recommendation to consolidate eight of the state’s public colleges into four institutions.
Meanwhile, Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Ron Jackson told legislative budget writers that a number of under-utilized technical college campuses will likely be closed in order to achieve a 2 percent budget cut ordered of all agencies by Gov. Deal.
If you wish to review the governor’s budget proposals online, please visit http://opb.georgia.gov.
Go Build Georgia:
Also last week, Gov. Deal announced the launch of a new skilled labor advancement initiative, “Go Build Georgia.” The program will address the skilled labor shortage in our state through public outreach designed to educate young people and the public at large about the wage, lifestyle and employment benefits in the skilled labor trades. The governor said “Go Build Georgia” will open new opportunities for our students and job seekers. Over the next year, 16,500 projected jobs will become available in the industries that rely on skilled labor. The program will assist in getting Georgians the skills they need to fill these employment opportunities.
Although Georgia’s unemployment rate declined for the third straight month in December to 9.7 percent, if was still the 53rd consecutive month that our state has exceeded the national unemployment rate, which currently stands at 8.5 percent. Growing job opportunities remains a top priority. Therefore, “Go Build Georgia” is receiving a more positive reaction as a beneficial program for our state, as compared to the much-ridiculed “Go Fish Georgia” of years past. For more information, visit www.gobuildgeorgia.com.
Education Bills Advance:
The full legislature went back to work on Monday, Jan. 23, with numerous proposals making their way through the committee process. Before the recess for budget hearings, the House Education Committee favorably reported three bills: HB 705, which would expand the definition of direct classroom expenditures by local school districts for the purpose of meeting the state’s mandate that 65 percent of state funds be spent in the classroom; HB 706, which would delete obsolete, unused and unnecessary provisions in state law related to elementary and secondary education; and HB 713, which would delay implementation of the career and college readiness requirements in K-12 schools for one year.