[January 18, 2016] | We began the second session of the 153rd General Assembly on Monday, January 11, 2016. With an ambitious legislative agenda to navigate, and only 40 legislative days to accomplish the task, we got straight to work. The House convened every day to take up business, and our committees began meeting to discuss upcoming legislation.. My colleagues and I in the House even received a surprise visit from Georgia?s own Miss America, Betty Cantrell from Warner Robins! The former Miss Georgia was honored on the House floor and helped us kick off the first day of the legislative session by singing ?Georgia on my Mind.? Wow, that lady can sing!
This week marked Gov. Deal?s sixth State of the State address, which he gave before a joint session of the House and Senate, members of the judiciary, staff, members of the media, and special guests. Governor Deal outlined Georgia?s successes, opportunities for improvement, and what his priorities for the budget would be.
Gov. Deal began his address by highlighting the significant economic progress the State has made since the Great Recession of 2008. Currently, Georgia?s Rainy Day Fund, or reserves, have increased to more than $1.43 billion and continue to grow each year. He noted those same reserves had dropped by $2.3 billion from 2007 to 2011 and were almost completely depleted during that time. Gov. Deal also emphasized the state?s lowest post-recession unemployment rate of 5.6 percent. In addition, Georgia currently has the third lowest construction unemployment rate in the nation of 4 percent, due to more than 22,000 new manufacturing jobs, which have generated over $900 million in wages to the state. These positive figures were great news and provided an encouraging outlook for all of us.
As Georgia has seen tremendous growth in manufacturing and construction, Gov. Deal announced his continued plan to strengthen Georgia?s workforce and to address the jobs skills gap that many employers encounter. In the past two years Gov. Deal targeted 11 areas under the Strategic Industries Workforce Development Grants where students receive full tuition coverage from HOPE for training. As part of his promise to bridge the skills gap, Gov. Deal called on the General Assembly and higher education leaders to add another field, Industrial Maintenance, to this important list.
Comprising more than half of the state?s proposed annual budget, education is still the top priority for Gov. Deal. The governor?s FY2017 budget proposal calls for a 3 percent pay raise for teachers to come from an additional $300 million appropriation for K-12 education to the local school boards. Gov. Deal noted that in the past three years, 94 percent of school systems used this additional funding to reduce or entirely eliminate furlough days, and with this funding, teacher furlough days should be a thing of the past.
In addition to his education budget proposal, Gov. Deal also addressed some of the suggestions from his Education Reform Commission, which was tasked with examining our entire education system and reporting back to the governor and the General Assembly with its recommendations for reform. One recommendation that came out of the Commission is a student based funding formula to replace the Quality Based Education (QBE) formula, which has been in place for more than 30 years. He will also create a new education advisory committee composed of teachers. Governor Deal gave a call to State Department of Education and local school systems to evaluate their testing requirements and eliminate unnecessary tests. To make the best decision for our students, the General Assembly will spend careful time and consideration reviewing the information and recommendations of the Commission.
Finally, after announcing his goals in the State of the State address this week, Gov. Deal officially released his $23.7 billion State budget proposal to the General Assembly for the upcoming fiscal year. Just as the Governor listed education as his top priority in his address, he also made education a top priority in his proposal of the State?s budget, with $300 million additional funds intended for teacher salary increases, and $26.2 million for Pre-K teacher pay raises. The Governor?s budget proposal also includes funding for public safety, health care, and economic development.
These are just a few highlights from Gov. Deal?s budget proposals. I will spend more time on this with you as we work through it in the upcoming weeks. The General Assembly will use the Governor?s recommendations as a starting point when we work with the budget in our Joint House and Senate Budget Hearings and Joint Appropriations subcommittee hearings next week. I look forward to diving deeper into the details of the Governor?s budget plans to ensure that we are spending your tax dollars in the most efficient way possible.
I hope you will take the opportunity to review updates like this to keep informed about legislative matters. I thank our local news outlet for sharing this information. Please reach out to me and share your thoughts and opinions as we move throughout the legislative session this year. I can be reached via email at rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov, or by phone at 404-656-7857. Thank you for allowing me to serve as your Representative.