[March 01, 2026] | This was the seventh week of the 2026 legislative session. Monday was dedicated to our first committee workday of the session; we had committee meetings most of the day. Committee time is where the work gets done on perfecting the legislation a member will bring. You can ask questions, offer amendments, and even vote No on legislation brought before your committee. Yes, feelings get hurt and tempers can flair, but we are here to represent the area who elected us, and we have to be firm at times. We will have another committee day this Monday to get bills in line to be heard before Crossover Day on Friday.
The amended budget is done. We voted on that this past week. This is the culmination of work for the last seven weeks by those of us who are on the Appropriations committees. What I will share next is the Balanced Budget for Amended 2026 Budget. It passed easily and has been sent to the Governor's desk for his signature on Tuesday.
Key spending you will want to know about will include $850 million for the Homeowner Tax Relief Grant program, more than $400 million to construct a new state mental health hospital, and more than $2 billion for various transportation initiatives across Georgia. HB 973 also allocates more than $600 million to provide state employees and educators with a one-time $2,000 salary supplement, as well as $29.8 million to establish a first of its kind College of Optometry at Georgia Southern University to help meet a critical workforce need.
Other notable appropriations include $325 million to the Georgia Student Finance Commission for state-matching funds to support the need-based DREAMS scholarship program. Infrastructure investments include $250 million for local road improvements through the Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant for cities and counties, $11 million in airport aid, and $8.4 million for short-line railroad upgrades. In public safety and behavioral health, the AFY 2026 budget appropriates $20.7 million for a 40-bed forensic restoration facility at East Central Regional Hospital in Augusta, along with $409 million for a new 300-bed facility at Georgia Regional Hospital in Atlanta, which will significantly improve the state's mental health and forensic capacity. The final version of this budget also includes $81 million to address the deficit within the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) and restore various foster care support contracts. The General Assembly's final version of the amended budget also appropriates $45 million for the State Housing Trust Fund to address homelessness, $5 million through the Department of Veterans Service to assist our homeless veterans, alongside $100 million to strengthen the funded ratio of the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia to support long-term pension stability.
During the week, we also passed several Education bills, but I will hold off on explaining them in detail until we see what the Senate is going to do with them. One was about reading, a very detailed long bill that will transform how we teach reading in our schools. The State Dept. of Education has chosen not to do anything about this, so the legislature had to jump in and fix the issue of so many of our third graders not being able to read proficiently. We also looked at math education in the early grades and passed a bill to work on that. We also passed a bill to ban cell phones in high school.
If you want to know a lot of details about the budget, all you have to do is ask, and I will send them to you.
My Capitol office number is 404-656-7153. My email is rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov. As always, thank you for allowing me to serve as your State Representative.