The Georgia House overwhelmingly approved a $20.8 billion budget Monday for the upcoming year that includes more funding for pay raises and construction projects across the state.
The budget for fiscal 2015 - which begins July 1 - adds about $800 million in new state spending. The version passed by the House includes more than $500 million extra in funding for schools that Gov. Nathan 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.
The House also added language in the budget telling the Department of Community Health to offer 650,000 teachers, employees, retirees and their dependents on the State Health Benefit Plan a choice of health care providers, something they aren’t getting now.
Wit 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.
TRAGIC, the group that has fought to get benefits and options restored, is holding a rally at the statehouse Tuesday.
About the Author
