(The Center Square) – Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed the amended fiscal year 2025 budget Thursday appropriating $867 million in hurricane relief and $50 million for school safety grants.
The budget also includes a tax break that would give married taxpayers who file in 2023 and 2024 an additional $500 and single taxpayers $250.
“As we all know too well, inflation may have come down, but high prices haven’t,” Kemp said. “And that’s why this budget includes $1 billion for another one-time refund for hardworking taxpayers.”
The House of Representatives approved the tax cut as lawmakers scrambled Thursday to get bills passed out of respective chambers. Any bill that has not passed at least one body by Thursday is considered dead for the 2025 legislative session.
Providing relief to the areas hit by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the early fall was a top priority for both chambers.
“This budget includes critical midyear adjustments for Georgia’s education system, economic development projects, transportation infrastructure and public safety,” said Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. “Additionally, over $250 million is included for Georgia’s agriculture and timber communities impacted by Hurricane Helene, along with relief for our fellow Georgians and local communities for recovery and cleanup efforts.”
The department overseeing Georgia’s prisons received $434 million in new funding that will go to improve the prison system and attract and retain employees in the Department of Corrections. The amended budget has $140 million that will fully bankroll the state’s school funding program and go toward the workforce.
Lawmakers agreed to $3.5 million for a recovery center for human trafficking victims and $187,000 to expand the attorney general’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit to Macon and Augusta. First Lady Marty Kemp advocated for the funding.
The bill did not include $7 million that would have gone to the Georgia World Congress Center Authority to prepare for future major sporting events that are coming to Atlanta. The money was included in the House version but removed by the Senate.
“Remember last year we put $24-$25 million in the budget for similar projects that are going to come over the next five to 10 years,” said Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. “If you look at what we’re doing right now because of the incredible interest we are able to earn on state funds, one year at $7 million is $495,000 in interest. So why would we let that interest sit with another entity when we can use it in the state to continue to roll back income tax?”
