Capitol Beat is a nonprofit news service operated by the Georgia Press Educational Foundation that provides coverage of state government to newspapers throughout Georgia. For more information visit capitol-beat.org.
The 2024 session of the General Assembly starting Monday is expected to feature renewed debate over issues lawmakers have wrestled with for years, including private school vouchers, legalized gambling, and tort reform.
What’s different this year is that Georgia is sitting atop a $16 billion budget surplus and another $11 billion undesignated funds. What to do with that unprecedented pile of cash likely will dominate the 40 days under the Gold Dome.
“The state has the chance to make a real difference in the lives of Georgians by investing in critical areas such as child care, education, and workforce development,” said Danny Kanso, senior fiscal analyst with the left-leaning Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. “We have the resources to make historic investments that will benefit all Georgians for generations to come.”
However, the legislature’s Republican majorities aren’t likely to abandon a long-running reputation for fiscal frugality to satisfy state agencies and interest groups with long lists of uses for tax dollars.
“The world is full of ideas for spending other people’s money,” said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia.
On the other hand, Tillery acknowledged the toll inflation has taken on core government services.
“We’re probably going to have to spend more to do what the government needs to do,” he said.
Gov. Brian Kemp already has identified some of his spending priorities. Early last month, the Republican governor announced he will ask the General Assembly to accelerate the state income tax cut the legislature approved two years ago.
The measure, which took effect at the beginning of this month, reduces the tax rate from 5.75% to 5.49%. Kemp is proposing to lower that rate…
Read the full article here
