Georgia Senate leaders Wednesday approved a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that includes $1.1 billion in new construction and rejects Gov. Nathan Deal’s plan to cut health insurance benefits to 22,000 part-time school employees and their families.
Local school systems would have to chip in more to pay for the insurance, cutting the amount of new money available for teacher pay raises and for eliminating furlough days.
The Senate Appropriations Committee proposal also includes a 4 percent pay hike for judges on the Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals and a 2 percent raise for Superior Court judges and district attorneys. The House had declined to give raises to some Superior Court judges who already get large county salary supplements. Some Superior Court judges in places like Marietta and Savannah make far more than Supreme Court judges and are among the best paid in the Southeast.
Other state employees, meanwhile, could see a 1 percent raise in the Senate plan.
The full Senate will vote on the $21.8 billion state budget for fiscal 2016 on Friday and a final deal will be worked out by House and Senate leaders over the next few weeks.
The House and Senate versions of the budget include $200 million worth of borrowing for new transportation projects; $100 million to repair and replace dangerous bridges across the state; and $100 million for transit projects.
More money may get added later if the General Assembly passes legislation currently being debated that would put an extra $1 billion a year into transportation.
The Senate budget also adds money to fund 278 additional caseworkers for the state’s troubled child welfare system and rewards the lobbying efforts of the politically powerful nursing home industry with a rate increase.
The Senate sided with Deal on increased funding for the state ethics commission, backing his plan to add eight staffers to the agency charged with policing campaign finance and lobbying laws. The House had cut that proposed increase in half.
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