Geoff Duncan plans to use state funds, expand Medicaid to lower Georgia living costs

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Geoff Duncan detailed his plan to increase affordability for Georgians by expanding Medicaid and leaning on the state’s rainy day fund to bolster social programs.

“Affordability is literally a crisis for everybody right now,” Duncan said in a Monday interview with The Telegraph.

Concerns around the cost of living are already shaping up to be a major factor in this year’s midterms nationwide, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted at the end of 2025.

Georgia isn’t spared from those anxieties.

According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator, a family of four with both adults working would need to make an annual wage of at least $105,432 before taxes to be able to live comfortably in the state. The median household income in Georgia in 2024 was $77,353, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Duncan plans to use rainy day money to bolster state programs

Duncan said he plans to tap into the state’s rainy day fund to shore up social programs and give working people assistance .

He said if elected, he would push to use 10% of Georgia’s $16.9 billion Revenue Shortfall Reserve, which functions like a savings account for the state and is used to maintain services and pay expenses during economic downturns.

The money that would be pulled from the fund — roughly $1.7 billion — would be used to start a “jump start” fund, Duncan said.

Some of the funds would go towards investing in the Childcare and Parents Services program, which gives low-income families financial assistance to cover childcare costs.

“This will directly lower childcare costs so those single parents can go back to work,” Duncan said.

He also said he would put money towards the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides cash assistance to low-income families with children.

“We’ll directly invest in the TANF program with hundreds of millions of dollars to help those out of the vicious cycle of poverty, to help close the gaps with transportation costs or utility bills or things that they’re just not able to meet,” Duncan said. “They just need that one jump start.”

Duncan wants to expand Medicaid, a push Democrats have long supported

As part of his plan to reduce Georgians’ living expenses, Duncan said he would support legislation to expand Medicaid in the state, a move Democrats and activists have urged for years.

Expanding Medicaid would adjust state eligibility requirements to include more people, usually anyone making an income under 133% of the federal poverty line, and eliminate work and school documentation requirements. People living in states with expanded Medicaid are able to qualify based on their income alone.

Last September, Georgia partially extended Medicaid through the end of 2026 . The partial extension still has work requirements, but recipients document less often and caregivers of young children are exempt.

Georgia is one of just 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid.

Duncan said expanding Medicaid in the state is essential to bringing down living costs.

“There’s not enough money in the state’s budget, there’s not enough access to networks, there’s not enough willpower to get this health care system up off the ground in Georgia, to keep rural hospitals open if we don’t expand Medicaid,” Duncan said.