Georgia lawmakers focus on regional budget goals
ATLANTA (WJBF) – With more than 200 lawmakers under the gold dome, Georgia state senators and representatives are prioritizing regional improvements in the state.
On Thursday, Governor Brian Kemp will roll out his statewide detailed tort reform legislation plan to help small business owners.
The state has a $14 billion dollar surplus so over the next 33 legislative days. Lawmakers will look at ways to help Augusta, Columbus, Savannah, Macon and rural parts of Georgia.
For Augusta, there's a push to get more funds to help Hurricane Helene relief, locally approve the hotel motel tax and fund the state prison to get more money for prison employees.
'We are going to look at the Richmond County Correctional Institute that houses state inmates and see if we can up what the state provides,' said State Representative Brian Prince. 'Right now it's $25, but most other counties get more so we are going to see if we can raise that as well.'
In Columbus, priorities include maternal mortality rates, and help Georgians live, learn and earn, and help the 12 percent of Georgians who are uninsured to have healthcare access.
'Maternal mortality we are at the bottom and as it relates to women of color. African American women have the greatest risk,' said State Representative Caroline Hugley. 'My son and daughter are in the child bearing age. I want them to be able to bring forth little girls that look like me safely.'
In the city of Savannah, lawmakers want to mandate kindergarten as a required grade for all Georgia students, fund mental health care initiatives and affordable housing.
'I will be authoring legislation for our local school boards to be able to police within so many miles of a school,' said State Senator Derek Mallow. 'We know we have sworn police officers but cannot respond to an emergency if it is off campus. Taxpayers already pay for those so legislation 1-3 miles around campus is not going to hurt anybody.'
The state capitol also invites local delegation to pitch their budget priorities from the local city council, school board, chamber of commerce to talk to lawmakers.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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