Before the Georgia Senate passed a $32.4 billion budget, several GOP senators tried to make a not-so-subtle point about their decision to slash funding to the higher education system by $66 million.

The Republicans peppered state Sen. Blake Tillery, the chief Senate budget negotiator, with a spree of questions about other funding in the spending plan that benefits Georgia’s colleges and universities.

State Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, contended that overall higher education spending amounts to more than $4.5 billion. Others highlighted the construction of new buildings on campuses around the state and a significant boost to HOPE scholarship funding.

The cuts were orchestrated by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and his allies in part to object to a $105 million item approved earlier this year to upgrade the records system that could benefit Wellstar Health System.

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Constituent Services Director Vesna Kurspahic helps a student with his service academy application at U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick’s office in Cumming, Ga., on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. Kurspahic is constituent services director for Congressman Rich McCormick. During the government shutdown, she is handling a caseload of roughly 250 requests without receiving any salary. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

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