[March 09, 2015] | Sorry, I haven?t been as good a teller of what we have been doing in Atlanta. I have been writing and typing with my left hand only, due to the shoulder surgery, but I am about to get shed of the sling and can use this arm again. I have surely appreciated that my wife Marcia has been with me for the past 6 weeks in Atlanta. Not being able to drive or do a lot has really slowed me down... some.
The biggest issue we have dealt with is the budget. This is what most of us on the Appropriations Committee have spent our biggest block of time on. We passed the 2016 budget out of the House to the Senate. Remember that the Governor starts the process and creates a budget and a spending limit. The House works on the Governor?s proposal, first making adjustments and reprioritizing some spending where we think we should.
This year?s budget was set by a revenue estimate of $21.7 billion, a 4.5 percent increase from the Fiscal Year 2015 budget. With the increase in state revenue, the House was able to fund a number of its priorities in the FY 2016 budget including enhanced funding for education, transportation, maintaining State Health Benefit Plan coverage for non-certificated school employees, and support for Georgia?s rural hospitals.
Of the new revenue in the FY 2016 budget, 60 percent of those funds are budgeted for K-12 education expenses. K-12 education funds, totaling $571.9 million, will help fully fund enrollment growth, allow for additional training for teachers, provide charter system grants and State Commission Charter School supplements, increase opportunities for agricultural and career/technical education, and distribute more dollars to local school systems in hopes of eliminating furlough days and raising salaries for teachers. Additionally, the House version of the budget takes a strong stance on continuing the State Health Benefit Plan coverage for non-certificated school workers and includes additional funds to continue coverage for these valuable school workers. This was very important to me and to many of you from whom I have heard in the last month.
Just as transportation has been a major topic under the Gold Dome, funding for state transportation projects was also set as a key priority in the FY 2016 budget. HB 76 includes an infusion of $55 million in state dollars to improve our roads, rail, airports, bridges and cargo. This appropriation includes $3.9 million in prior-year funds; $2 million to match federal funds for traffic management and control projects; $9.6 million for the State Road and Tollway Authority, with $7.6 million specifically dedicated to funding projects through the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank, and $17.1 million in debt service for $200 million in bonds for bridge repair and rehabilitation and transit projects statewide. Maintaining and repairing our roads and bridges is vital to every part of our state, and it is our duty to ensure that our roadways continue to be safe for Georgia drivers.
Finally, the FY 2016 budget also funds a variety of health initiatives. HB 76 includes $3 million to improve the financial health of struggling and closing hospitals in rural Georgia to leverage technology to improve patient outcomes. Other health projects funded in HB 76 include a $250,000 start-up grant for a community health center in Wheeler County. Additional investments were also made in our future doctors, with an increase in funds for both Mercer and Morehouse Schools of Medicine, funding for 11 additional primary care residency slots, the establishment of a rural clinical rotation for primary care students in Sandersville, and $200,000 to revive a rural dentistry program that provides debt relief with a service commitment to practice in a rural or underserved area. With these dollars, we hope to not only prepare a future generation of doctors, but to also address the shortage of health care in rural areas.
We have had quite a few special visitors at the Capitol during the past few weeks. It is always so nice to see folks from home. One special guest was our own Pastor Ben Mock from Mt. Zion Church. He was our Pastor of the Day on one of those icy mornings, and as you might guess, did an awesome job. John Tatum, our Pickens County Farm Bureau president, came one day and got to go to a meeting with me. We have had the Leadership groups from Pickens spend the day with us. Gordon County was snowed out and Murray is coming in a few weeks. Hope that they learned a lot and enjoyed themselves.
One interesting thing we did was that we passed House Bill 70 to recognize the white tail deer as Georgia?s official state mammal. The idea for this legislation came from first-graders at Reese Road Leadership Academy in Columbus, Georgia who learned that Georgia is one of only three states that does not have an official state mammal. The children brought this to the attention of lawmakers and leaders of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and it was ultimately decided that the white tail deer become Georgia?s official state mammal. According to DNR, white tail deer bring in more than $800 million per year in hunting license fees, sporting equipment sales, food, and land leases, therefore have a significant economic impact on the state of Georgia. This legislation, however, does not grant the animal any protection from hunters or change hunting laws in any way. (A good thing) I am glad that HB 70 helped teach some of Georgia?s youngest learners about the legislative process, while also recognizing an animal that has been an important economic and recreational resource for Georgians.
I have a few page spots still left for this session. I have three young people from Jasper coming on day 30 (this Friday) to be Pages. Can?t wait till I hear what they have to say about that day.
This is the real busy time of the session with lots of bills being discussed and voted on to be sent to the Senate for their consideration.
If you do come down to the Gold Dome, please give me a warning so I can look for you. You can e-mail me at rick@rickjasperse.org or call the Capitol office at 404-656-0188. Also use those contact numbers to tell me what you think about an issue or if you want more information about something you might have heard on the news or radio. Or, like today, stop me at the gas pumps. That?s okay; really, I hope you feel comfortable doing that. Your questions and feelings on issues are important to me.