Blog Higher Education Taifa Smith Butler When HOPE Falls Short, Georgia Loses September 16, 2016 / January 17, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler When I read more than 10,000 financially-strapped students were dropped off Georgia’s college rolls in the 2014-2015 school year in a report we published last week, I was reminded again how fortunate I was to get help based on my modest finances at critical times so I could stay in class. I can’t count the […] Read more » Financial Aid Higher Education HOPE Scholarship
Blog Budget and Taxes Taifa Smith Butler New GBPI Budget Primer Previews 2017 as State Closes Out 2016 July 22, 2016 / January 15, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler State tax collection rose 9.4 percent in the just-ended 2016 fiscal year, or nearly $1.8 billion more than the prior year. About $744 million of that is from a new revenue system that kicked in last July to pay for long deferred road and bridge maintenance. Georgia’s governor announced those year-end numbers this month as […] Read more » Budget Primer FY2017
Blog Health Justice Taifa Smith Butler Time to Remedy Georgia’s Health Care Provider Shortages June 30, 2016 / January 15, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler As published in the AJC June 26, 2016 Georgia needs a health care system that is sustainable. The state needs to focus on promising solutions to its health care crisis and not waste time gazing in the rear view mirror at missed opportunities. When a hospital closes, as one in Ellijay did this month, it […] Read more » medicaid Rural hospitals
Blog Budget and Taxes Taifa Smith Butler State Revenue Gain Offers Possibilities June 10, 2016 / January 16, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler As we near the close of the 2016 fiscal year, we can breathe a sigh of relief. The bad days of the Great Recession are distant in the rear view mirror as revenue growth remained strong all year long. Georgia collected 9.9 percent more through the first 11 months of the current fiscal year than […] Read more » State Budget State Taxes
Blog Cash and Safety Net Health Justice Taifa Smith Butler Lawmakers Made Small Progress, Avoided Big Budget Mistakes April 11, 2016 / January 17, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler As Published in the AJC Former drug offenders and their families who struggle financially could get better access to nutrition assistance to help them on a path to a lawful, productive life. Some financially struggling rural hospitals stand to get a cash infusion, although the remedy that emerged from the 2016 General Assembly amounts to […] Read more » Atlanta Journal-Constitution Budget & Taxes Income Tax Legislature Medicaid Expansion Rural hospitals
Budget and Taxes Taifa Smith Butler Get education, health care right to build Georgia’s prosperity January 11, 2016 / January 15, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler This op-ed was first published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Jan. 10, 2016. Education and health care spending amount to about three quarters of the state budget Georgia lawmakers are set to shape when they return to the Gold Dome this week. Before the 40-day session ends at the outset of spring many other topics will […] Read more » State Budget
Blog Budget and Taxes Taifa Smith Butler Healthier State Revenues Provide Opportunities October 16, 2015 / January 17, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler | 1 Comment on Healthier State Revenues Provide Opportunities The welcome news is state tax revenues are up about 9.4 percent during the first three months of the 2016 fiscal year that started July 1. Georgia’s year-to-date collections total $5.13 billion, up $438.7 million, compared to $4.69 billion last year. When Gov. Nathan Deal unveils his new state budget plan in January, he might […] Read more » revenue State Taxes
Blog Cash and Safety Net Taifa Smith Butler So Many Georgians Struggle, but it Doesn’t Have to be That Way October 9, 2015 / March 5, 2021 by Taifa Smith Butler | 2 Comments on So Many Georgians Struggle, but it Doesn’t Have to be That Way For the last 15 years or so, I’ve peered out across many crowded rooms filled to capacity with bright-eyed, on occasion teary-eyed, Georgians. So many are desperate for solutions to help improve their communities, especially the families struggling to get by. And I’ve looked into the faces of leaders of elected, community, faith and business […] Read more » Economic Security EITC Medicaid Expansion Safety Net Taifa Smith Butler
Author Blog Budget and Taxes Taifa Smith Butler GBPI Put its Stamp on 2015 Legislative Session April 13, 2015 / January 15, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler Georgia lawmakers left Atlanta early this month with significant accomplishments in hand and without approving some measures the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute flagged as troubling. Legislation to generate about $900 million more a year for transportation maintenance grabbed most of the headlines after the General Assembly convened in mid-January. But other bills with big […] Read more » State Budget Taifa Smith Butler
Author Blog Taifa Smith Butler Reality Check: Thankful We Have More in Common Than Cable News Makes Us Think November 25, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler | 3 Comments on Reality Check: Thankful We Have More in Common Than Cable News Makes Us Think Last week I reminded my tween daughter about the golden rule – Treat others the way you want to be treated. She was telling me making friends hasn’t been easy in her new middle school. We’ve all been there and remember it’s a challenging stage of life for many middle school-aged students. The stress students […] Read more »
