Sine Die: Overview of Georgia’s 2022 Fiscal Year Budget
Bolstered by billions of dollars in unprecedented support from the federal government, Georgia lawmakers enacted a state budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 (HB 81) that maintains nearly $850 million in cuts from FY 2020 levels (HB 31), a reduction equivalent to cutting approximately 4 percent of General Funds from the budget.
[1] Due in large part to $90 million in savings from the federal government’s decision to pay a higher-than-usual share of the cost of Georgia’s Medicaid program due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers were able to restore about half of the cuts made to public education since the pandemic began, with approximately $561 million in cuts from FY 2020 funding levels remaining. Members of the General Assembly also moved $22 million in funding from other state agencies and $15 million from capital projects to restore a total of about $127 million in cuts initially proposed in Gov. Kemp’s executive bud
More
By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism. Prioritizing Georgia s needs in the amended budget Rep. Jon Burns
Fellow Georgians, the original budget for Fiscal Year 2021 (July 1, 2020, through June 30) had a $25.9 billion revenue estimate, with deep cuts for all agencies. Those cuts were expected to be necessary due to declining tax revenues because of COVID-19.
Our state’s financial situation has improved dramatically since we passed the initial budget last summer, and the governor increased the revenue estimate by over $654 million. This additional revenue was included in the Amended Budget for Fiscal Year 2021. We used this additional revenue to prioritize education and restored 60 percent of the reductions made to K-12 education.