Georgia teachers and the other state employees would get a two percent salary increase while the staff overseeing child welfare cases will see a 19 percent raise under the Georgia state budget proposal approved on Friday.
The chamber's approach largely agrees with the Governor Nathan Deal's $49.3 billion spending plan for the financial year which begins July 1. Of the total, nearly $25 billion comes from the state sources, while the rest income comes from the federal government.
The plan also includes more than $1 billion to finance the construction projects all around the state, including for the local schools and colleges, a new crime lab in the Savannah and completion of a new campus for Lanier Technical College in the Hall County.
Rep. Terry England said that about 66,000 state employees across the state agencies will be eligible for merit-based pay increases. The plan also continues previously announced 20 percent raises for the state law enforcement, including those with the Georgia State Patrol and also with the Bureau of Investigation.
The deal signed those increases into law on Wednesday, as part of a $600 million addition to the state budget for the current financial year ending June 30.
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The Friday's House vote of 167 to 1 sends the proposal to the Senate for its opportunity to make changes to the plan. Leaders from both the chambers then meet to reconcile differences. The deal can sign, reject or make changes to the legislature's final proposal.
A state budget is the only piece of legislation which lawmakers are constitutionally required to approve each year.
The state budget process has largely been drama-free in Georgia during the past two years as the state's finances recovered from the Great Recession. In January, the state reported that the tax collections had increased 4.6 percent compared to the previous year. England said that the growth of income taxes, the largest source of state revenue, have "leveled out" compared to the recent post-recession years but still indicated the "steady employment and new jobs coming to our state."
England also highlighted an added that $600,000 for the Bureau of Investigation to hire six staff responsible for a backlog of rape kits to be tested. The General Assembly in the last year approved a bill requiring law enforcement to pick up the evidence kits from the hospitals within 96 hours and submit to the state for testing within 30 days.
Nelly Miles, a spokeswoman with the agency, said on Friday that 4,400 rape kits containing evidence from sexual assault cases statewide await testing.
By Mrudula Duddempudi.
