Georgia leaders reach final deal on budget with teacher pay hike

House Appropriations Chairman Terry England, R-Auburn, presents the House version of the 2018 budget. BOB ANDRES /BANDRES@AJC.COM

House Appropriations Chairman Terry England, R-Auburn, presents the House version of the 2018 budget. BOB ANDRES /BANDRES@AJC.COM

Georgia House and Senate leaders reached a final agreement on a budget for the upcoming year that includes pay raises for 200,000 teachers and state employees and clears the way for the end of the 2017 General Assembly session.

The deal on the spending plan for fiscal 2018, which begins July 1, is expected to be signed later Tuesday and could be voted on by both chambers as early as Wednesday. The 2017 session is scheduled to end March 30. Since the budget is the only bill legislators, by law, must approve, it opens the door for an early exit.

Both the House and Senate earlier approved versions of the budget that largely follow what Gov. Nathan Deal proposed in January.

The total spending plan tops $49 billion when federal and other funds are included.

It provide 2 percent pay increases for teachers and most state employees, while child protection workers would receive raises of 19 percent. The raises cost the state about $360 million. Retired state employees will get a 3 percent one-time bonus, as they did last year.

The spending proposal includes more than $1.15 billion in new borrowing. High on the list is $105 million to build a new state courts building in Atlanta on the site of the former archives building, which was brought down earlier this month.

Under the budget, doctors will receive an increase in payments for treating Medicaid patients, and millions more will go to increasing autism services for children in the program, which provides health care to the poor and disabled. Nursing homes will get more to care for the elderly and dentists who treat low-income Medicaid patients will get more money as well.

The budget for the upcoming year includes $223 million to help keep the state's Teachers Retirement System on strong financial footing. State officials said the payment is one of the largest subsidies — if not the largest — in the program's history.