The General Assembly gave final approval Thursday to a $276 million increase in state spending over the next few months, with about half the money going to local school districts that saw a jump in enrollment last fall.
The midyear budget for fiscal 2015, which ends June 30, also asks the Department of Community Health to study ways to continue to provide health insurance to 22,000 part-time school employees — such as bus drivers and cafeteria workers — and their families.
That doesn’t guarantee the state will continue providing the coverage through the State Health Benefit Plan. But lawmakers’ support for providing some type of coverage — whether it’s the state or local school districts footing the bill — is in response to Gov. Nathan Deal’s proposal to end state insurance support for part-time school employees. The State Health Benefit Plan covers about 650,000 teachers, state employees, retirees and school staffers and their families. It also covers lawmakers.
Whether state funding for school bus drivers’ health insurance continues into next year will be determined in the coming weeks, as the General Assembly tackles the $21.8 billion budget for fiscal 2016, which begins July 1.
The midyear budget is typically a series of add-ons for things such as increased school enrollment or special needs that pop up.
This year, lawmakers included much of what Deal requested in January, including:
- $126 million for school districts that saw enrollment growth last fall.
- $49.5 million to pay for increased usage of Medicaid brought on by the federal Affordable Care Act.
- $40 million for economic development grants, expected to be used to entice a big corporate expansion in the coming months, possibly another car company investment.
- $35 million to expand broadband Internet connectivity in local school districts.
- $6.2 million for 103 additional caseworkers in the Division of Family and Children Services.
- $4.9 million to begin medical marijuana trials.
- $648,000 to establish the Georgia Film Academy to prepare Georgians to work in the state's growing film industry.
- $203,000 to create a charter high school to help prison inmates earn high school diplomas.
Now, legislators will turn to next year’s budget, and health insurance for bus drivers is one of several potentially contentious issues facing lawmakers.
Before the fiscal 2016 budget is approved, Deal and lawmakers will have to decide how much money to add to pump up transportation spending. The House is expected to vote soon on a proposal that could add more than $1 billion a year in transportation funding. The Senate, however, will likely rewrite it substantially, so it could be a while before a final plan is approved.
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