This is the seventh time I’ve presented a budget proposal to you, and as I noted in my State of the State address last week, we have used our annual budgets – in part – to address the unprecedented challenges we’ve faced, together.
This year is no different, as we work as a team to overcome challenges facing our farmers and small businesses in the wake of Hurricane Helene, provide further relief to hardworking Georgians dealing with sky-high prices, invest in community-level infrastructure to meet the needs of a growing economy and population, strengthen our education and workforce development programs, fortify our public safety and corrections system, grow the number of healthcare workers in our state and support these heroes, and many other strategic investments that ensure we meet our obligations without growing government.
My top priority in the budgets before you is one that we all share – relief for those devastated by Hurricane Helene last September. Hundreds of thousands of Georgians – from Valdosta to Augusta and far beyond – suffered losses in its wake, and we continue to mourn for the 34 Georgians lost to this terrible storm.
To assist our state agencies in vital recovery efforts, I am requesting over $614 million in the Amended Fiscal Year budget for hurricane relief.
This includes:
- $300 million for the Department of Transportation for debris cleanup, road repair, and signage replacement, and to ensure ongoing projects are not negatively impacted by the suspension of the motor fuel tax following the storm,
- $100 million to replenish funds used for immediate financial relief for the agricultural and timber industries,
- $50 million to ensure the health of the state’s property insurance risk pool as we repair state facilities, and
- $150 million for the Governor’s Emergency Fund for the state’s share of FEMA’s reimbursement of ongoing debris removal, temporary shelter expenses, and direct aid to Georgians.
I appreciate your prompt consideration of this proposal as we work to support these Georgians and ensure they come back even stronger than before!
We can, should, and will do this, because our approach to budgeting allows us to be ready for the difficult times. Our conservative fiscal management has kept us a AAA-rated state for nearly three decades, and the No. 1 state to do business for an unprecedented 11th year.
Because we maintain those coveted distinctions and don’t put them at risk by listening to those who would rather grow government than trust our citizens, job creators know that Georgia is a safe and reliable state in which to invest. That’s a big reason we were also recently named the top state for business environment as a whole by the site selectors who actually make those decisions.
They know that we put our citizens first, which is why we need to put more taxpayer money in the hands of those who know how to use it best – hardworking Georgians!
And – again – because we’ve budgeted carefully and wisely, we can do that while still fully meeting our fiscal obligations as a state.
As you know, we’ve already provided some relief to families who face too-high prices at the grocery store, the gas pump, and everywhere else they go each day. Since 2021, we have put $7.6 billion back in the hands of taxpayers!
In each of the last four legislative sessions, we have prioritized tax relief to Georgians. That is a major reason why they have returned us to these positions, and we are not taking our foot off the gas this year.
Last week, I called for another tax cut acceleration of 20 basis points, which will save Georgians an additional $7.5 billion over the next decade.
While the federal government continues to run up massive deficits and states like California and New York are raising taxes on their already overburdened citizens, we are showing the nation how a state lives within its means, meets its budget priorities, and gives families back their hard-earned money.
In short, while they’re tax and spend, we’re save and give back, without negatively affecting our revenues or our people.
And as a result, we’re able to make one-time investments in communities that will have a generational impact, meeting the needs of a growing economy while lowering future costs, both for ourselves and our children.
That’s why my budgets include nearly $2.2 billion in direct investments in our water and transportation infrastructure, as well as local economic development projects that will address growing capacity needs.
We also know that our ability to move freight safely, efficiently, and reliably across the state is a major reason why Georgia remains competitive. That’s why nearly half of that $2.2-billion infrastructure investment will go to the Department of Transportation to construct and maintain our network and advance freight infrastructure projects.
The other $1.1 billion in infrastructure investment will be available for community-level projects across the state with direct, local economic development benefit. The Amended budget includes:
- $250 million for local road assistance grants, more than doubling our annual investment this year to local governments for transportation needs,
- $60 million for the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank to provide low-interest loan and grant opportunities for local governments to enhance transportation and mobility in their areas,
- $250 million for the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority for water infrastructure grants and loans to support future economic growth, something we’re prohibited from investing federal monies in,
- $501 million for surface water investments in our coastal region to support that area’s long-term growth, and
- $48 million in the OneGeorgia Authority to continue our overwhelmingly successful Rural Workforce Housing and Rural Site Development Programs.
I especially appreciate your support in prior budgets for that last item, because like so many of you, I strongly believe Georgians should be able to live in the same community where they work.
That’s why I’m happy to report that since 2023 we have announced 21 projects through the Rural Workforce Housing Program that will provide support for up to 1,607 additional housing units.
And just as we’re investing in communities to set them up for continued success, we must do the same for our children, so that they’re ready to one day step into those well-paying, secure jobs we’re bringing to Georgia.
Combined, my budgets invest more than $1 billion in new funding to support students at every stage of our educational system – from Pre-K to higher education. Yet again, we are fully funding education in Georgia, and these investments will:
- Reduce class sizes for our Pre-K students,
- Meet the record enrollment needs of our university system, a great byproduct of the Georgia MATCH program,
- Provide additional financial support to our technical schools to grow enrollment in high-cost, in-demand career fields,
- Maintain support for our HOPE scholarship and grant recipients, and
- Provide additional school security grants to K-12 schools to protect our students and teachers.
This additional billion dollars in investment also includes $141 million to fund the first year of Georgia’s new Promise Scholarship program. I want to commend the legislature, again, on passing the bill that made this program possible and better empowers families to make the right choices for their child’s educational needs.
Our commitment to quality education in Georgia also includes investing in our teachers and fulfilling our obligations to those who have served in the classroom. That means keeping our school health and retirement systems on sound financial footing, which is why my budget includes $174 million for the State Health Benefit Plan and $115 million for the Teachers Retirement System to cover the employer share of healthcare and retirement benefits.
We’re also committed to meeting the needs of our growing state, including expanded healthcare needs. As I highlighted last week, Georgia Access and Georgia Pathways are ensuring families across our state have affordable access to care today, but we know one of the major challenges facing Georgia is the need for more healthcare workers.
We must grow the pipeline of physicians within our state while also attracting great medical minds to Georgia. Therefore, my amended budget commits $150 million between the medical schools at Mercer, Morehouse, and Augusta to grow that physician pipeline and invest in research on cutting-edge medical technologies that can translate to lifesaving new treatments for patients.
A great example of those advancements are the recently approved gene therapy treatments for sickle cell disease. As a state with one of the highest rates of this condition in the country, these therapies are the answer to the prayers of many. They dramatically improve health outcomes and help patients live full lives, free of the pain and long-term complications from this challenging disease. With that in mind, my Fiscal Year 2026 budget includes over $36 million for our state’s Medicaid programs to cover the costs of lifesaving medications like these for patients in need!
And just as we’re keeping the health of Georgians in mind with this year’s budget proposal, we’re also prioritizing their physical well-being by investing in public safety.
Thanks to the best first lady in the country – Marty Kemp – as a state, we have aggressively pursued those who go after vulnerable Georgians and profit from them through human trafficking and gang activity. This year, we will further build on that work by expanding our prosecution units for human trafficking to our Macon and Augusta regions to get more of these violent predators off the streets and behind bars where they belong.
We’re also building on our prior work to strengthen our corrections system, so offenders aren’t able to victimize Georgians from behind bars. This is an issue every correctional system in the nation is facing, and I appreciate your support in our ongoing efforts to assess how we can best approach this challenge over the past year.
Despite the Atlanta Paper ignoring our efforts and meaningful improvements in this area, all of you know how strongly we’ve gone after tackling these issues. We’ve raised Corrections Officer pay multiple times over the past several years, provided greater opportunities for advancement, and aggressively gone after recruiting new officers and equipping them with the skills and resources needed to keep Georgians safe. And last year, we engaged an outside, independent firm to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the needs and strengths of our corrections system.
Based on their careful and thorough recommendations, my two budgets include a combined 603 million additional dollars for the Department of Corrections!
This new funding will help recruit and retain staff, reinforce and strengthen prison facilities, improve population management, and meet the rising costs associated with inmate health and mental care.
I recognize that there will be additional needs as we continue to examine our corrections system, but I also know that these critical investments will increase security within our system, protect our brave men and women in law enforcement, and further prevent criminal and gang activity in our state.
Finally, I want to say again how appreciative I am for your support last year on measures that reflect our shared commitment to conservative fiscal management. They included investments in good governance that are already paying dividends, and I ask for your continued support for those items this year.
In the prior budget, we provided a $500-million infusion into the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) to reinforce this asset after it was significantly impacted by the Great Recession, like many other retirement systems around the country. The ERS estimates this infusion will increase the funded ratio for the system from 72 percent to 75 percent.
To keep that upward momentum going, I am asking you to support an additional $500-million investment for the system. This will give our retirement Board greater flexibility in establishing cost-of-living-adjustments for state retirees who gave years of service to the people of Georgia.
Additionally, for the second year in a row, you will see a recommendation to fully fund our state’s capital needs through our existing operational budget, rather than issuing new debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay. If approved, we will have reduced our state’s annual debt burden as a proportion of state revenues to its lowest level ever and saved our taxpayers more than $3 billion in the process.
I’ll close by simply saying thank you for your continued leadership and partnership.
Over the past six years, we have worked together to overcome unprecedented challenges and invest in the economic future of our state in ways that will benefit generations of Georgians, all while reducing taxes and empowering our citizens. What I have put before you this year builds on that good work, and I look forward to working with each of you this session to keep Georgia the best place to live, work, and raise a family.
Thank you, and God bless.
