Georgia lawmakers say that they’ve scraped up enough money to prevent state agencies from sending employees home for unpaid furlough days in the coming year and say K-12 school districts should be able to spend savings to avoid teacher furloughs.
House and Senate negotiators signed an agreement Tuesday on a final version of Georgia’s 2021 budget for the year beginning Wednesday. The Senate passed the agreement by a vote of 40-13, while the House is not expected to act on the budget until Friday, the session’s last day.
The state will spend $25.9 billion of its own revenue, a 10% cut from what was originally expected. The cuts are sharp but had once been projected to be as high as 14%. Gov. Brian Kemp is letting lawmakers spend $250 million out of the state’s savings account and increased projected tobacco tax revenue by $50 million earlier this week. That and an improving economic outlook led to smaller reductions.
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