Georgia House approves $32.4 billion 2024 budget, HOPE money falls short
ATLANTA - The Georgia House of Representatives approved their version of the state's Fiscal Year 2024 budget Thursday afternoon, but it did not include one of Gov. Brian Kemp's priorities.
The $32.4 billion spending plan includes the governor's proposed $2,000 pay raises for state employees, though the House bumped those increases up to $4,000 for state law enforcement officers.
The House proposal fully funds the state's Quality Basic Education formula for public schools and includes $6.3 million to cover students' share of reduced-price school breakfasts and lunches.
The House's budget also prioritizes public safety by earmarking $1.5 million for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to increase its forensic science staff and $2.7 million for the GBI cold case unit.
In his State of the State address, Gov. Kemp announced his budget proposal would fully fund tuition for students in the HOPE program, which helps cover college and technical school tuition for Georgia students with a "B" average.
When it was first created, the HOPE program fully funded tuition for those students, but in 2011 lawmakers created two scholarship tiers because of funding shortfalls.
Currently, only the Zell Miller Scholarship pays 100% of college tuition. In order to qualify for that level of funding, a student must have a 3.7 grade point average and score at least a 1200 on the math and reading portions of the SAT.
The governor's proposal would have once again covered full tuition for all students with a "B" average. The House, however, only increased HOPE's tuition coverage from 90% to 95% for those students.
"The House supports the integrity of the Zell Miller scholars. We made an extremely difficult decision more than 10 years ago to differentiate between award levels. Students who've been working towards a Zell scholarship deserve to have their hard work acknowledged and a higher payment," explained state Rep. Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, who is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
State Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Atlanta, who has long advocated for increasing HOPE awards, said the difference between 95% and 100% is only about $26 million, which represents just 2% of the HOPE reserve balance.
"We have the money to return the full promise of HOPE to all of our HOPE scholars, not just those with a 1200 SAT score," said Rep. Evans. "My friend said we need to preserve the integrity of the Zell Miller scholars, that we need to recognize that they were told that if they worked hard and got the 1200 SAT and the higher GPA, that they would get a hundred percent of their tuition covered. That's exactly what they're going to get."
The budget now heads to the Georgia Senate for their approval.