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Georgia tax revenue leaps more than $3B over last year
By Jeff Amy
ATLANTA - Georgia’s state tax receipts jumped by more than $3 billion in the budget year ended June 30, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday, setting up an election-year session in which lawmakers will have many options for new spending or tax cuts.
Georgia collected $26.9 billion in revenue, up 13.5% from $23.7 billion in the 2020 budget year. Lawmakers had cut spending sharply before the 2021 budget year began, fearing revenue would plunge because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it’s been clear for months that tax receipts were soaring instead.
Kemp and other Republicans have credited the increase to Kemp’s decision to lift coronavirus restrictions early, although Democrats have said Georgia’s good fortune has more to do with the trillions Congress handed out to businesses and individuals to keep them afloat during the pandemic.
Georgia lawmakers ink final deal on $27.3B state budget
JEFF AMY, Associated Press
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1of3Georgia Republican legislative leaders on Wednesday March 31, 2021 sign a report at the capitol in Atlanta agreeing to a budget for the year beginning July 1 that spends $27.3 billion in state tax money in Atlanta. On the left are House Majority Leader Jon Burns, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Terry England and House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones. On the right are Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery and Senate President Pro Tem Butch Miller.Jeff Amy/APShow MoreShow Less
2of3Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery speaks in the Senate chamber at the State Capitol on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, in Atlanta.Brynn Anderson/APShow MoreShow Less
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By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism. Georgia leaders want to pay bonuses to many state workers
ATLANTA Georgia officials are proposing one-time bonuses of $1,000 to many state employees who make less than $80,000 a year.
Gov. Brian Kemp, House Speaker David Ralston and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, all Republicans, announced the plan Wednesday. They said they wanted to recognize the hard work of employees during the pandemic. Our state employees work incredibly hard despite the global pandemic, Kemp said. They have to be going above and beyond the call of duty to deliver essential services to our most vulnerable, keeping our businesses open and delivering financial assistance to those that quite honestly many days were losing hope.