House leaders approved a $20.8 billion budget for the upcoming year Tuesday that includes funding for pay raises, extra money for construction projects across the state and a clear message to 650,000 teachers, state employees and retirees that protests over their health coverage have been heard.
The House Appropriations Committee passed the spending plan for fiscal 2015, which starts July 1. The full chamber is expected to approve it Monday after lawmakers return from their ice storm recess.
Lawmakers included language in the budget telling the Department of Community Health to offer teachers, employees and retirees on the State Health Benefit Plan a choice of health care providers, something they aren’t getting now.
With Gov. Nathan Deal’s support, the agency changed the plan to offer members only one provider starting this year. The plan also dramatically increased out-of-pocket costs for teachers, employees and retirees. The aim was to save the state $200 million a year.
Members protested, however, and Deal and the agency backed off many of the big out-of-pocket costs. Protesters also decried the lack of options, something House leaders want the agency to address in the coming year.
“Providing multiple carriers is important; however, offering multiple choice plans is crucial,” said Ashley Cline, founder of a grass-roots group protesting the changes and the wife of a Cherokee County science teacher. “With over 600,000 people enrolled in this plan, it is critical that we have multiple plan options and providers during open enrollment in order to meet our diverse medical needs.”
Lawmakers were hoping to speed up passage of the upcoming year’s budget because they want to end the session as quickly as possible. Primaries are set for May 20, which is a couple of months earlier than normal. Deal is up for re-election, as are all 236 legislative seats.
The storm will delay passage of the budget, but lawmakers still hope to end the session March 20.
Overall, the budget for fiscal 2015 adds about $800 million in new state spending and is predicated on a 4.3 percent rate of growth in tax collections. Including federal funds, the state would spend about $42 billion next year.
The House plan includes more than $500 million extra in funding for schools that Deal requested last month. House Appropriations Chairman Terry England, R-Auburn, said his chamber’s top priority is for extra money to go toward increasing the number of school days in districts where they have been reduced since the start of the Great Recession.
Some of the extra money could also go for cost-of-living raises for teachers, but local school districts will decide how to spend it. The budget also includes extra payroll money to provide “merit” raises for state agencies.
In addition, House leaders inserted more than $50 million in extra borrowing for local construction projects, a tradition that often rewards lawmakers on the Appropriations Committee.
“It’s kind of like Santa Claus coming for Christmas for some, like the Grinch coming for others,” England said Tuesday when he presented the budget to lawmakers. “If your project is not in here, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have merit. It doesn’t mean we don’t want to do it. It just means we ran out of money.”
Projects that made the list included $4.95 million for Kennesaw State University to buy nearby property currently occupied by a BrandsMart USA electronics and appliance store. State officials expect the property to cost $9.9 million, but the second half of the money needed to buy it may be added later by the Senate. Rep. Earl Ehrhart, R-Powder Spring, chairman of the House budget subcommittee for higher education, is the school’s longtime legislative patron.
The House proposal also would borrow $3.85 million to renovate and expand Baldwin Hall at the University of Georgia, $4.5 million to renovate the hazardous materials storage facility at Georgia Tech, $2.5 million for renovations and improvements at Atlanta Metropolitan State College, and $1.7 million to design an expansion of the Mountain View Campus of Chattahoochee Technical College in Marietta.
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