Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law a midyear budget plan that includes a $276 million increase in state spending over the next months that will help fuel local school districts grappling with a surge in enrollment.
The budget for fiscal 2015, which ends June 30, does not guarantee that the state will continue providing health insurance to 22,000 part-time school employees such as bus drivers and cafeteria workers. But it urges the Department of Community Health to study ways to continue providing the coverage under the State Health Benefit Plan.
The pushback is a response to Deal’s proposal to eliminate state insurance support for the employees under the plan, which covers about 650,000 teachers, state employees, retirees and legislators.
That tricky question will likely be resolved over the next month as state lawmakers begin debating the $21.8 billion budget for the next fiscal year. The smaller midyear budget typically features stopgap measures, such as rising education costs and healthcare concerns.
Also in the budget plan is nearly $50 million to pay for increased Medicaid costs in the wake of the federal Affordable Care Act, $40 million for economic development grants aimed at sealing the deal with corporate prospects and $35 million to expand broadband Internet connections in local school districts. Another $4.9 million would begin medical marijuana trials.
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