The Georgia Senate has passed its version of a $38.5 billion state budget for next fiscal year, although the spending plan is destined to now be hashed out behind the scenes by leaders of both chambers.
Senate Appropriations Chair Blake Tillery, a Vidalia Republican running for lieutenant governor, presented the budget on the Senate floor Friday, where it passed unanimously. Tillery said the budget makes several “investments” in health care and public safety, and that it provides funding for future cost-of-living adjustments for state retirees. The budget also provides $70 million for literacy coaches and boosts spending for Medicaid waivers for Georgians with disabilities with urgent needs who are currently on a waiting list.
“There are over 265 pages in the budget on your desk, and each line matters not just to the employees who work at that agency, but to the citizens across our state who receive benefits, assistance, help, aid, just an answer to a question at each one of those departments,” Tillery said before presenting the budget.
The Senate’s proposed budget would fund approximately 1,200 NOW and COMP waivers, which are Medicaid waivers aimed at helping people with disabilities find services in their communities and avoid care in a facility that may be far from home. It includes $20.9 million for the approximately 1,200 waivers. The House proposal, in contrast, funds 200 waivers with $4.6 million.
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