Georgia Governor Nathan Deal delivered his final State of the State address Thursday, using the occasion before the General Assembly as something of a victory lap: an unemployment rate at its lowest point in a decade, industry accolades as the best state in which to do business, significant investments in education and transportation, and criminal justice reform.
Declaring Georgia “not just strong” but “exceptional,” Deal, who became visibly emotional throughout the speech as he reflected on the work of the previous seven years, was pointedly light on his administration’s priorities for the new year.
Instead, some clues can be found in the budget proposal he submitted to lawmakers shortly after his address. The proposed spending blueprint for fiscal year 2019 doesn’t contain any radical reorganization of the state’s priorities, but instead provides for a little more of the same from years before:
- $361.7 million for the Teachers Retirement System;
- #127.6 million for K-12 enrollment growth, training, and experience;
- $30 million to assist low-wealth school systems;
- $54.3 million for resident instruction at University System institutions;
- $5.9 million for operations for the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center;
- $34.4 million for growth in the Dual Enrollment program;
- $255.9 million for Medicaid to fund growth and offset the loss of federal and other funds;
- $28.8 million for child welfare services to fund out-of-home care growth and foster care per diem increases;
- $22.9 million to implement recommendations from the Commission on Children’s Mental Health;
- $5 million for accountability courts to implement new courts and expand existing courts;
- $31.7 million in new motor fuel funds for transportation; and
- $100 million in bond funds to repair and replace bridges throughout the state.
The challenges of passing a balanced budget—the General Assembly’s lone constitutional obligation—are complicated this year by federal action on the recently passed overhaul of the US tax system, which could decrease state revenues, and whether the US Congress renews the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known locally as Peachcare.
Elsewhere in the state capitol, the Senate remedied a lingering procedural issue Thursday by passing an adjournment resolution passed three days earlier by the House that would sync the two chambers’ legislative calendars. And the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a version of an adoption reform package without a controversial religious liberty provisions that doomed the bill in the final hours of last year’s session.
The two actions represent significant concessions by Senate leadership and Lt. Governor Casey. Last year’s poison pill amendment that would have allowed adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples was removed although a provision allowing for transfer of child custody through a power of attorney to a close relative or friend was attached. Whether this satisfies House leadership or Governor Deal, who have called for a clean adoption bill is yet to be seen.
Notably, the adjournment resolution is important to Lt. Governor Cagle, who is eager to finish the legislative season as soon as possible so fundraising can resume, which is barred during session for ethics reasons, in his campaign for governor later this year.
