return to donparsons.org homepage |
My
House colleagues and I returned to the Gold Dome on Tuesday, January 16,
for the second week of the 2018 legislative session. This week, we began
the state budget process, which is one of the most important
responsibilities we have during the entire legislative session. The
General Assembly is constitutionally required to pass a balanced state
budget every year, and as we began the budget process, the joint House
and Senate Appropriations committees met for a series of hearings to
review Governor Nathan Deal’s budget recommendations. In addition to the
joint budget hearings this week, the House also convened on Thursday and
Friday for legislative Day Five and legislative Day Six of the session. To
kick off the budget process on Tuesday, Gov. Deal presented his
comprehensive budget proposal to the members of the House and Senate
Appropriations committees. Gov. Deal’s Fiscal Year 2019 (FY 2019) budget
is the largest budget to be presented to the General Assembly in our
state’s history. Georgia has experienced a tremendous economic boom in
recent years, and because of our state’s success, we have maintained our
AAA credit rating, been named the No. 1 state in which to do business
for five consecutive years, invested billions of dollars in education
and grown our Rainy Day Fund. Our state’s financial success and robust
economy have made Georgia a national leader economically, and Gov.
Deal’s budget proposals build upon these successes, as well as create
new prospects for growth. During this week’s budget hearings, we also
heard testimonies from several state agency heads, each of whom
expressed their respective agency’s fiscal needs and answered questions
from my House colleagues and Senate counterparts. The final budget will
outline state funding for each of these agencies, which is why it is
critical that we hear their budgetary needs as we begin this arduous
process. While
our state has experienced significant growth over the past several
years, Georgia’s future economic success heavily relies on a connected
and efficient transportation network. Gov. Deal’s FY 2019 budget
recommendations include more than $1.9 billion in annual funding to
maintain and enhance our state’s transportation infrastructure, as well
as an additional $100 million to repair and replace bridges throughout
the state. The governor’s Amended Fiscal Year 2018 (AFY 2018) budget
proposal also allocates more than $25 million to expand runways at 11
airports in Georgia to ensure that larger aircrafts can access all areas
of our state, including our rural communities. Our state’s citizens, and
especially our businesses, depend on a viable transportation system,
which is why it is important to invest in all areas of our state’s
transportation network.
Education has consistently been one of Gov. Deal’s top funding
priorities, and in his final budget proposal, the governor continued his
commitment to Georgia's students by investing in many education programs
and initiatives. Gov. Deal’s AFY 2018 budget includes $102.1 million for
a midterm adjustment for K-12 enrollment growth and $10.7 million for
growth in the Dual Enrollment program. The governor’s FY 2019 budget
proposal also includes $30 million to assist low‐wealth school districts
and adds $127.6 million to fund K-12 enrollment growth and training and
experience for Georgia teachers. Additionally, Gov. Deal’s FY 2019
budget allots $1.8 million for the REACH Georgia Scholarship program,
which would provide 226 additional scholarships statewide and expand the
program into 44 new school districts. The governor also added $361.7
million for our state’s Teachers Retirement System to fully fund the
state’s determined employer contribution. An investment in our state's
young minds is an investment in Georgia's future, and our state will
reap the benefits of these education appropriations for generations to
come.
Healthcare has also continued to be a top priority in our state’s
budget. Since 2011, our state has invested almost $240 million in
behavioral health, and as a result of this investment, we have seen a
significant decline in individuals civilly committed to Georgia’s
behavioral health hospitals. The governor’s FY 2019 budget proposal
allots $15 million to continue to fund Georgia’s intellectual and
developmental disabilities waiver services and to provide supportive
housing for Georgians in need. Gov. Deal’s recommendations also include
$3.5 million in the AFY 2018 budget and almost $7 million in FY 2019
budget towards the Children’s Autism Initiative. Additionally, the
governor’s FY 2019 budget allocates $22.9 million to fund crisis
services, therapeutic foster care, Apex grants, telehealth services,
suicide prevention, wraparound services, supported employment and
education and opioid prevention and treatment, which were all
recommendations made by the Commission on Children’s Mental Health.
Georgia’s behavioral health services have helped countless Georgians to
thrive in our state, and investing in such services is critically
important so we can continue to assist these citizens. Gov.
Deal’s successful criminal justice reform initiatives also received
additional funding in his budget proposal. One such initiative is
Georgia’s accountability court system, which provides low-level,
non-violent offenders with sentencing alternatives, such as
rehabilitative services. Since FY 2012, our state has allotted a total
of $113.9 million to establish and operate these courts statewide, and
the FY 2019 budget includes an additional $5 million to continue those
efforts. Gov. Deal’s sentencing reform initiatives have a proven track
record and have helped low-level offenders receive the help they truly
need, rather than keeping those individuals in Georgia’s prison system.
Finally, the governor’s proposed budgets provide state dollars for
several essential programs and initiatives that meet the wide-ranging
needs of all of our state’s citizens. The governor’s FY 2019 budget
proposal provides funding for Georgia’s child welfare services,
including $15.1 million for growth in out‐of‐home care utilization,
$10.1 million to continue to increase Georgia’s foster parent per diem
rates and $3.6 million to increase out‐of‐home care provider rates. Gov.
Deal’s FY 2019 budget also allocates almost $256 million for Medicaid
expense growth and to offset federal revenue and settlement loss. These
are just some of the highlights of the governor’s budget proposals. The
House Appropriations subcommittees will hold hearings next week to
continue to review these proposals and delve even further into the
governor’s recommendations. These subcommittees will eventually pass
portions of the state budget in their respective subcommittees, and
those portions of the budget will then go before the full House
Appropriations Committee, which will review and pass balanced budgets
for AFY 2018 and FY 2019. Other
important news this week comes from our colleagues in the Senate. On
Thursday, our Senate counterparts passed their version of House Bill
159. The original bill
passed the House unanimously last session and would modernize our
state’s adoption laws for the first time in nearly 30 years.
The Senate amended some key provisions in the legislation and
added HB 359, a bill dealing with temporary powers of attorney, which
Gov. Deal vetoed last year.
We began reviewing the Senate’s changes this week, and we hope to work
with them and Gov. Deal to get this measure finalized and signed into
law. Also
this week, Gov. Deal made a few major announcements that I would like to
share with you. On Wednesday, Gov. Deal issued a state of emergency for
83 of Georgia’s central and northern counties impacted by winter
weather. As a result of the snow and icy roads, our budget hearings that
were originally scheduled for Wednesday were rescheduled, and the House
and Senate convened Thursday afternoon rather than Thursday morning.
Despite the winter weather, my House colleagues and I continued our
legislative work on behalf of all Georgians. Gov.
Deal made another major announcement on Thursday morning. After much
anticipation, the governor announced that Atlanta is included on
Amazon’s short list of Top 20 finalists for the company’s second
headquarters. Georgia has consistently been ranked the best state in the
country for business, and our state has many attractive resources and
benefits that give us a competitive advantage over other states. I look
forward to seeing how Georgia continues to fare in Amazon’s site
selection process. The
House will be back in session on Monday, January 22, and we have another
busy week ahead of us as the pace of the session continues to pick up.
As we move forward, I encourage you to visit me at my capitol office, or
call me if you have any questions or concerns regarding the state budget
bills, the legislative process or any other measures being considered
under the Gold Dome. As your representative at the Georgia State
Capitol, I want to know what issues are most important to you, your
family and our neighbors, and I welcome any opportunity hear feedback
from my constituents. My capitol office is located in Room 401 of the
Capitol Building, my office phone number is 404-656-9198, and my email
address is don@donparsons.net.
Please reach out to me any time. Thank
you for allowing me to serve as your representative. |
return to donparsons.org homepage |