By JEFF AMY Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s 2023 state government budget promises more money for teachers, state employees, lawmakers and retirees, lower fees for college students and more spending on mental health and policing, thanks to abundant state revenue.
Republican House Appropriations Committee Chairman Terry England of Auburn, presenting his final budget before leaving elective office, called it “a deliberate and thoughtful plan to fund the future. Our future, the future of our state.”
house bill 911 it goes to the Senate for more debate after passing the House 155-3 on Friday. The document would spend $30.2 billion in state tax money and $57.9 billion overall, big increases from where the state started its 2022 budget, thanks to abundant tax revenue and federal assistance.
The document would continue the $2,000 increases for teachers and $5,000 for state employees that will begin in the separate amended budget for 2022 in House Bill 910 that passed final approval in the Senate on Friday and was sent to the Senate. Republican Governor Brian Kemp. The 2023 budget would also pay the first cost-of-living increase in 14 years to retired state employees who draw pensions from the Employees Retirement System.