Deal Signs FY16 Budget Into Law

Gov. Nathan Deal has signed the State’s Fiscal 2016 budget into law.

Deal’s office said the FY16 $21.8 billion state budget will keep Georgia moving forward in education, public safety, economic development, health care and other key areas.

The final budget includes an increase of over half a billion dollars in funding for K-12 education, much of which will be used by local school districts to continue to restore instructional days, eliminate furlough days and raise teachers’ salaries.

Funding is also in the next budget for the continued development of the Georgia Film Academy to ensure the state has the workforce needed to sustain its thriving film industry.

Other line items include monies for the expansion of the number of strategic industries for which the full cost of tuition is covered for Georgia’s technical college students — an effort to help meet demand for available workers.

Another $36 million is in the new budget for services for Georgia’s children in need, including funding for additional caseworkers and money to implement the Child Welfare Reform Council’s recommendations, which promote the safety and effectiveness of caseworkers.

Funding will also be available for tools needed to make the new “hub and spoke” model for rural hospitals a success, which lawmakers hope will help ensure citizens in rural areas have access to needed care.

Finally, an additional $19.7 million is allocated in the 2016 state budget to continue the state’s criminal justice reforms, which utilize community alternatives to sentencing, educational initiatives and reentry support to enhance the safety of Georgians through wise stewardship of tax dollars.

The governor vetoed only one line item – the Georgia General Obligation Debt Sinking Fund.

Deal said the language authorizes the appropriation of $809,900 in debt service to finance projects and facilities for the Department of Community Affairs, specifically for the construction of a seawall on Hutchinson Island in Savannah, through the issuance of $3.5 million in five-year taxable bonds.

In vetoing the line item, Deal said state does not have ownership of the land identified for the seawall, and is prohibited from using general obligation debt to finance that project.

The fiscal year begins July 1.