This browser does not support the Video element.
Kemp signs 2023 budget into law
The $30.2 billion spending plan includes an additional $382 million to restore austerity cuts to the Quality Basic Education program that funds the state's K-12 public schools. It also gives teachers the final $2,000 of a $5,000 pay raise Gov. Kemp promised when he ran for office in 2018. For the first time in a decade, state employees will also get a $5,000 cost of living adjustment.
BLUE RIDGE, Ga. - Surrounded by state lawmakers and other officials, Gov. Brian Kemp signed his name to the state's FY 2023 budget Thursday afternoon.
"We have prioritized education, public safety and healthcare, even when we faced truly unprecedented times," said Kemp.
The $30.2 billion spending plan includes an additional $382 million to restore austerity cuts to the Quality Basic Education program that funds the state's K-12 public schools. It also gives teachers the final $2,000 of a $5,000 pay raise Gov. Kemp promised when he ran for office in 2018. For the first time in a decade, state employees will also get a $5,000 cost of living adjustment.
"The DOT workers out here on the highway, the Department of Corrections folks, DFCS workers, all of those individuals have worked through some tremendously difficult times over the last two years and I'm just thankful that we're able to recognize them in compensation," said state Rep. Terry England, R-Auburn, who serves as the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Gov. Brian Kemp signed his name to the state's FY 2023 budget Thursday May 12, 2022.
House Speaker David Ralston highlighted the addition of significant funds to the state's mental health programs.
"The Fiscal Year 2023 budget is one about which I am particularly proud," said Speaker Ralston. "This is a good budget, one which invests strategically in the needs of a growing, thriving state, while at the same time keeping state government lean and returning every dollar possible to the taxpayer."
The Democratic Party of Georgia, however, criticized Gov. Kemp.
"After calling Democrats’ American Rescue Plan a ‘slap in the face for hardworking Georgians,’ Brian Kemp is hypocritically trying to take credit because he thinks it will help his chances of re-election as he faces vicious attacks from Donald Trump and David Perdue. The American Rescue Plan delivered billions in federal funds directly to Georgians and is fueling the state budget. When it comes to criticizing and then trying to take credit for Democrats' work, Kemp doesn't care about his blatant hypocrisy as long as he thinks it’ll help his political career," said Max Flugrath, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia.
The budget year begins July 1.