Excerpts from Gov. Deal’s 2016 State of the State Speech:
But after we conclude our planning and are ready to set sail on our annual journey, what do we do if the wind does not blow, or worse, what if it blows from the wrong direction?
It is in those times that true leadership is required. It is for those occasions that each of us who are elected leaders must step forward. It is how we react to those events and circumstances we did not plan for and over which we have no control that determines the future of our Ship of State and the safety of its cargo.
When I addressed you for the first time in January 2011, Georgia’s Ship of State had been severely battered for two years by the storms of the Great Recession. Our reserves, that is our Rainy Day Fund, had been almost completely depleted in an attempt to keep our Ship of State from sinking. Our revenue had dropped by $2.3 billion from 2007 to 2011. Our unemployment rate was 10.4 percent. Our high school graduation rate was an unacceptable 67.5 percent.
By passing conservative budgets, coupled with the economic growth that was spurred by our reforms, our Rainy Day Fund that was almost gone five years ago has now grown to over $1.43 billion.
By cutting taxes and removing regulatory burdens on businesses, our unemployment rate has been cut almost in half and now stands at 5.6 percent.
My administration has spent more of the state budget on K-12 education than any administration in the past 50 years, which included over 1 billion additional dollars for the past two years and an additional $416 million for FY2017. However, our Education Boat is still leaking and needs some repairs.
Over the past five years, members of this General Assembly and I have shown our appreciation for our teachers by making public education a priority, and we will do so again this year by appropriating an additional $300 million for k-12 education, which is more than is required to give teachers a three percent pay raise.
… We must also fund the state’s Medicaid program and its growing rolls. The cost of this program has grown from $2.6 billion in FY2013 to $3.1 billion in FY2017, an increase of 15.7 percent. Medicaid and PeachCare spending per Georgia family amounts to $1,258 per annum. And when federal and other costs are added to this number, it amounts to at least $4,365 each year. And that’s without expansion. Had we elected to expand Medicaid, it would have required us to include approximately $209 million in this upcoming year’s budget alone to cover the added cost. That number would only continue to grow exponentially.
Last year, I told you that with the revenue that was available at that time, a road that was paved when you graduated from high school would not be paved again until you were eligible for Social Security. With the new user fees generated, we have brought that frequency down to every 12 to 15 years, with regular maintenance in between. In other words, if your road is paved the same year you graduate from high school, it will be paved at least three times before you are eligible for Social Security and will further benefit from maintenance in the interim.
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