Georgia governor files record budget request

ATLANTA -- Gov. Nathan Deal is asking the state Legislature for a budget that counts on Georgia's largest-ever annual tax revenues, but that plan still would spend less per person than the budget did 15 years ago.

Deal is proposing to spend $23.74 billion in state money in the fiscal year that begins in July. That's up from the roughly $22.99 billion that is being spent this fiscal year.

Counting federal dollars that come through Georgia's budget books, state spending increases to $47.5 billion.

"Georgia's growing state revenues reflect the strength of its growing economy and population," said Chris Riley, the governor's chief of staff, just after the budget proposal was published Thursday.

Under Deal's budget, state pending per Georgian would total $2,324.

That sum is "nearly identical to spending levels in 1998 and still below peak per capita spending levels seen in the early 2000s," Riley said. Annual real spending then got as high as $2,513 per Georgian but dropped to below $2,000 during the recession.

Most of the difference between this year's budget and Deal's proposal for next year will go to things Georgia must fund, such as debt service, Medicaid, prisons and growth in the number of K-12 students.

Just over 86 percent of the new spending in next year's budget proposal is dedicated to such mandatory items.

Growth in mandatory spending, Riley said, "continues to outpace general revenue growth."

In his budget, Deal wants a 3-percent raise for all state employees, including teachers.

He also wants to work on spending money to reduce turnover at the state agencies that oversee prisons, juvenile justice, health and child welfare. The budget includes $7.9 million for 175 additional case workers and other staff at the Division of Family and Children Services.

The budget does not include an expansion of Medicaid, the state- and federally-funded health insurance program for low-income people. The federal government wants states like Georgia to include more people in the program. Deal has resisted, saying going along with the federal Affordable Care Act is too expensive. According to the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, an expansion would cost an additional $209 million next year.

That's where the Republican governor draws strong criticism. Just as Deal's budget was being printed, the House Democratic Caucus announced its agenda for the year.

Item number one: a bill that would expand Medicaid eligibility to people who live at up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

Democrats say Georgia cannot afford the cost in lives and lost productivity of people going without health care.

"This is critical legislation, not simply a moral imperative," said the bill's sponsor, House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta. "It's the only smart economic path for our state."

In the midstate, Deal's budget proposal includes about $1.7 million for equipment and operations at the new Military Academic and Training Center in Warner Robins. It also proposes spending some $1.2 million to support expenses and 132 new jobs at Milledgeville's new Youth Challenge Academy, a program that young people who have left school can join to work toward a GED or high school diploma.

The budget also continues to invest in the Mercer School of Medicine's long-standing program to train physicians who will work in Georgia's underserved rural areas. In line with spending over the last few years, the governor is asking for $24 million for the program.

House and Senate hearings on Deal's budget are scheduled to start next week.

Georgia must balance its budget every year and cannot spend more than what it receives in taxes. High-dollar public works projects, such as building roads, are financed by borrowing money through bond sales.

To contact writer Maggie Lee, e-mail mlee@macon.com.

This story was originally published January 14, 2016 at 5:20 PM with the headline "Georgia governor files record budget request ."