Highlights from the House with Rep. Shaw Blackmon

As the General Assembly met for the final days before Crossover Day on Tuesday, March 15, there were many bills moving through the House to achieve final passage. As we are in the second year of our two-year term, all bills must pass either the House or the Senate by Crossover Day in order to have a chance of making it to Governor Kemp’s desk to become law.

The only constitutional obligation of our state legislature is to pass a balanced budget and the Georgia House spent much of last week focused on fiscal matters. House Bill 910, the Amended Fiscal Year 2022 Budget, received final passage and was sent to Governor Kemp to be signed. The AFY 2022 budget is set at a revenue estimate of $30.3 billion, which is an increase of $3.08 billion or 1.3 percent over the current budget. This increase will allow our state to provide additional funding during the current fiscal year for many of our priorities, including more than $900 million in one-time expenses for our state’s infrastructure and $950 million to provide salary increases for state employees and teachers.

We also saw the House vote on the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget, which will fund operations of state government starting on July 1. The FY 2023 budget is set at a revenue estimate of $30.2 billion, which is a $2.9 billion or 10.8 percent increase over the FY 2022 original budget, and this budget permanently restores nearly $640 million eliminated from the budget in FY 2021 during the economic uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the priorities funded in this ambitious bill are $65 million in new spending to support public safety and mental health services; full funding of the Quality Basic Education (QBE) formula for our K-12 public schools totaling $11.8 billion; and the Georgia Student Finance Commission received additional funding for service cancellable loans to boost recruitment and retention among key state employees including state medical examiners, National Guard members, law enforcement officers and mental health practitioners. For those of you looking for even more detail on our annual budget priorities, a comprehensive list of FY 2023 highlights from the House Budget and Research Office can be found on the Georgia General Assembly website.

Even with all the budget work this week, my we acted on many other important bills. All of us are concerned by skyrocketing gasoline prices and so the House passed House Bill 304 to allow the governor to suspend the state motor fuel excise tax through the end of May 2022. This will provide some relief to Georgians paying more than ever to fuel their vehicles.

We are excited to announce the House passed House Bill 1437, or the Georgia Tax Reduction and Reform Act of 2022, to cut income taxes for Georgians starting in 2024. HB 1437 would eliminate personal income tax brackets and replace them with a single, flat rate of 5.25 percent. This legislation increases the standard exemption for Georgia’s filing income tax returns, which will also boost tax savings. Proponents of this bill estimate that Georgians would save an estimated $1 billion per year when the cut goes into effect.

We passed an important bipartisan bill this week with House Bill 1013, or the Georgia Mental Health Parity Act, to provide comprehensive reforms for our state’s mental health care system and give Georgians struggling with mental illness the resources they need. This legislation, which has been in the making for the last three years, will provide sweeping legislative changes to help improve insurance coverage and the delivery of mental health care.

The House passed another crucial bill to improve mental health treatment and recovery programs in our state. House Bill 1069 would prohibit private adult residential mental health programs from operating in our state without a valid or provisional license, and this legislation would implement substantial penalties if these unlicensed facilities continued to operate. Outlawing unlicensed facilities will ensure Georgians admitted into these programs can be assured quality care.

We passed two bills last week as part of our continued fight to improve access to health care throughout rural Georgia. House Bill 1042 will create a new grant program under the OneGeorgia Authority, which issues grants and loans for economic development initiatives in rural Georgia. This program will provide up to $200,000 in grant funding to eligible development authorities seeking to establish primary care, dental or mental health care medical facilities in health professional shortage areas. This crucial investment will provide the working capital needed to build much needed health care infrastructure in some of the most underserved areas of our state. House Bill 1371 will create the Rural Health Advancement Commission, which would collaborate with educational institutions and health care facilities to address long and short-term workforce shortages in rural Georgia. Chaired by the dean of a Georgia medical college, this 13-member commission would be required to meet at least every two months to develop private-sector solutions to these shortages, and the commission would issue a report of its findings periodically to the General Assembly and the Governor. Bringing together these experts will ensure my legislative colleagues and I are brought the best proposals to keep Georgia on the cutting edge of rural health care delivery.

I am sure you share my shock and disgust at the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At this time as we pray for peace and for the Ukrainian people to maintain their freedom, the House passed House Resolution 920 to formally show our solidarity with Ukrainians, as well as strongly condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and call on Vladimir Putin to end this unprovoked aggression. This resolution commends Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine who have courageously sought to defend their nation.

As we continue to make our way through the final days of the session, please be on the lookout for further updates. The pace will only quicken as we all work to pass our sponsored legislation. If you need anything, please reach out to our Capitol office directly. Thank you for privilege of allowing me to serve as your voice under the Gold Dome as we work towards simple, smart, and effective government.

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