State Budget

Over the next three to five years, the state needs between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in surpluses to rebuild the Revenue Shortfall Reserve (RSR). In order to do so, lawmakers should take a balanced approach to state budgeting that includes additional revenues. Download the PDF.

The governor’s proposed Department of Human Services (DHS) budget cut 138 eligibility workers in FY 2011. Eligibility workers process applications for Georgians in need of “safety net” supports. Georgia should use new federal funds to increase the number of eligibility caseworkers. Download the PDF.

Education does not escape the governor’s proposed cuts to agencies for the upcoming year. Adjusted for inflation, per student state spending on K-12 education and the University System will fall to their lowest levels in a decade. Download the PDF.

The Department of Human Services is facing a wide variety of budget cuts in the FY 2011 budget proposal. These cuts come on top of the cuts already implemented in the FY 2010 budget. Download the PDF.

Due to the “Great Recession,” state revenues have continued to decline through the first six months of the current fiscal year (FY 2010). This decline is resulting in a FY 2010 budget shortfall of an additional $1.4 billion, for a total FY 2010 budget shortfall of $4.6 billion. [Read more]

The enacted fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget spared the Department of Community Health (DCH) from large-scale program cuts because enhanced federal Medicaid funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 as well as additional Tobacco Settlement funds were used to replace DCH state General Fund spending. This report… [Read more]

This report provides recommendations to reform the criminal justice system in Georgia. This system has experienced rapid budget growth due, in part, to Georgia’s tough on crime policies and the rising age of inmates and their associated healthcare costs. These budget pressures are likely to continue, given the growing and… [Read more]