|
Budget News
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 AFY 2022 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 and maintenance, 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 towards our K-12 education system, which will fully restore our 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 our judicial system’s critical operations.
While we have completed the first major steps within our budget process, nothing will be finalized until later the session. I will continue to update you as this bill makes its way to the Senate for further review.
State of the Judiciary
Tuesday, February 8, brought a Joint Session to hear Chief Justice 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 buy leveraging the use of technology, highlighting that the use of video conferencing among other rule changes made during the pandemic have restored our courts to a fully functioning capacity.
Chief Justice Nahmias also touted the state’s substantial federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) 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 towards the goals of our legislative session, the chief justice agrees that our state’s mental healthcare 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.
Watch the FULL 2022 State of the Judiciary Address
House Action
We also passed the following bills on the House floor during week five:
-
House Bill 56, which would provide an additional superior court judge in the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit;
-
House Bill 263, which would allow for an updated mortality table to be used when determining the amount of retirement benefits of survivors of deceased probate judges;
-
House Bill 412, which would create the Georgia Behavior Analyst Licensing Board, set the operating standards for the board and include licensing requirements for applicants for a behavior analyst license;
-
House Bill 430, which would revise the definition of "advanced nursing practice" to include clinical nurse specialists and contains the educational or certification requirements, amend the definition of "advanced practice registered nurse" (APRN) to include several nursing specialties, provide eligibility requirements for licensing of APRNs and renewal requirements for licenses;
-
House Bill 780, which would transfer all full-time state-wide business court judges from the Judicial Retirement System to the Employees' Retirement System starting July 1, 2022;
-
House Bill 826, which would create a ballot referendum for area residents to consider the creation of the City of Lost Mountain;
-
House Bill 840, which would create a ballot referendum for area residents to consider the creation of the City of Vinings;
-
House Bill 891, which would act as the annual housekeeping bill for sections of Georgia’s code that relate to banking and finance;
-
House Bill 899, which would help phase out the use of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) formula as the predominant interest-rate average and, instead, would allow a recommended benchmark formula replacement for any contract, security or instrument that uses LIBOR;
-
House Bill 1011, which would remove the permit requirement for low-speed vehicles to use an amber strobe light and clarify that permits for emergency vehicles to operate flashing or revolving emergency lights would be valid for five years from the date of issuance;
-
House Bill 1045, which would revise the year from 2022 to 2026 at which the required contribution rate for new or newly covered employers to make into unemployment insurance increases from 2.64 percent of wages to 2.7 percent of wages, as well as change the dissolution date of the Subsequent Injury Trust Fund;
-
House Bill 1049, which would add two members to the State Board of Long-Term Care Facility Administrators and increase the number of board members who are nursing home, personal care home or assisted living community administrators, bringing the total number of board members to 11 after June 30, 2022;
-
House Bill 1055, which would increase the defined weight limit for an “all-terrain vehicle” from 2,500 pounds to 3,500 pounds.
All bills passing the House floor will now be further reviewed by our Senate colleagues.
|
