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State lawmakers are rushing a midyear budget that adds $1 billion in new state spending through the General Assembly in their continuing effort to make this election-year session as quick and painless as possible.
The House Appropriations Committee approved the midyear budget — which takes the state through June 30 — on Wednesday, and the full chamber is expected to back it Thursday.
The measure shouldn’t take long to pass the Senate as well and end up on Gov. Nathan Deal’s desk for his signature.
Lawmakers are already working on the second phase of the annual budget legislation — the record $23.7 billion spending plan for fiscal 2017, which begins July 1.
Lawmakers are wasting no time because all 236 legislators are up for re-election this year, and state law prohibits them from raising campaign money during legislative sessions.
As far as the midyear budget is concerned, lawmakers also felt that they didn’t need weeks to make changes to what Deal recommended to them on Jan. 14.
Midyear budgets are designed to fill in gaps in annual spending plans approved by lawmakers.
This one will send about $110 million to public school districts to help pay the costs associated with the rising number of students in schools.
Several other school programs would get more money. About $20 million would go to programs designed to let high school students get a head start toward a college degree by taking college courses. An additional $30 million is needed to fully fund HOPE and Zell Miller scholarships. And $15 million was tacked on to provide grants to local school systems for broadband Internet connectivity.
The budget includes an additional $750 million for road projects. That extra money came from fuel and hotel taxes that the General Assembly increased last year.
The midyear plan puts $91 million toward the rising cost of public health care programs, adds $50 million more in child welfare services, provides $3.5 million toward building a seawall on Hutchinson Island in Savannah and allocates $650,000 more for economic development outreach programs in China.
Once the midyear budget is approved and put on Deal’s desk, lawmakers will complete work on the budget for the upcoming fiscal year that includes 3 percent pay raises for more than 200,000 teachers and state employees.
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