Ashley Young Bill Analysis Briefs Budget and Taxes Education K-12 Education Overview: 2026 Fiscal Year Budget for the Georgia Department of Education February 18, 2025 by Ashley Young Introduction The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) serves Georgia’s 180+ kindergarten -12th (K-12) grade public school districts. Led by State School Superintendent Richard Woods, GaDOE develops and governs the K-12 learning standards and currently serves 1.7 million students.[1] Governor Kemp’s Amended Fiscal Year (AFY) 2025 budget for the GaDOE totals $120.8 million, including a […] Read more »
Bill Analysis Briefs Budget and Taxes Economic Justice Ray Khalfani Worker Justice Overview: 2026 Fiscal Year Budget for the Georgia Department of Labor February 17, 2025 / February 17, 2025 by Ray Khalfani The Georgia Department of Labor (DOL) is an agency tasked with maintaining a resilient Unemployment Insurance (UI) system to protect workers who lose jobs at no fault of their own during their transition back into the workforce. This resilience provides economic stability during recessions. DOL is also tasked with generating revenue through contributions that it […] Read more »
Bill Analysis Briefs Budget and Taxes Criminal Legal System Reform Economic Justice Ray Khalfani Overview: 2026 Fiscal Year Budget for the Georgia Department of Corrections February 17, 2025 / February 17, 2025 by Ray Khalfani For Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, Governor Brian Kemp proposed a $1.62 billion budget for the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC), the agency overseeing Georgia’s prison system. This proposed budget is $125 million higher than what was approved for FY 2025. [1] This increase is attributed to investments in infrastructure and security improvements; increases in prison […] Read more » Budget Overview
Bill Analysis Briefs Budget and Taxes Cash and Safety Net Economic Justice Ife Finch Floyd Overview: 2026 Fiscal Year Budget for the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning February 12, 2025 / February 12, 2025 by Ife Finch Floyd Introduction The Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) administers: Child Care Services; the Georgia Pre-kindergarten Program; Nutrition Services, which administers the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program; the Summer Meals program for low-income children in daycare facilities; and Quality Initiatives, which works to improve the quality and accessibility of child care programs. […] Read more » Budget Overview
Bill Analysis Briefs Budget and Taxes Health Justice Leah Chan Overview: 2026 Fiscal Year Budget for the Georgia Department of Public Health February 10, 2025 / February 12, 2025 by Leah Chan Introduction The Department of Public Health programs focus on health promotion and health-related disaster response and preparedness as well as disease and injury prevention. Governor Kemp’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 provides the Department with about $436 million in state funds. That includes $403 million in state general funds and about $13.9 million in […] Read more » Budget Overview
Bill Analysis Briefs Budget and Taxes Health Justice Leah Chan Overview: 2026 Fiscal Year Budget for the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities February 10, 2025 / February 12, 2025 by Leah Chan Introduction Among a range of duties, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities operates five state psychiatric hospitals, provides evaluation and treatment for individuals under the jurisdiction of the court system to determine their competency to stand trial and provides community-based services to Georgians living with mental health conditions, substance use disorders and […] Read more » Budget Overview
Bill Analysis Briefs Budget and Taxes Healthy Housing Hillary Dong Overview: 2026 Fiscal Year Budget for State Housing Programs February 7, 2025 / February 7, 2025 by Hillary Dong Introduction The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) is the state’s lead agency for safe and affordable housing, community and economic development and local government assistance. DCA’s housing services include providing rental assistance to low- and moderate-income individuals, providing down payment assistance to moderate-income individuals and financing affordable housing development and supportive housing. Additionally, […] Read more » Budget Overview
Bill Analysis Briefs Budget and Taxes Health Justice Leah Chan Overview: 2026 Fiscal Year Budget for the Georgia Department of Community Health February 7, 2025 / February 12, 2025 by Leah Chan Introduction The Department of Community Health administers the state’s healthcare safety net, reimburses hospitals for services provided to uninsured and underinsured Georgians, manages health insurance coverage for state and school system employees and regulates health care and long-term care facilities. Governor Kemp’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 provides the Department with $5.5 billion […] Read more » Budget Overview DCH Department of Community Health
Bill Analysis Prosper GA Ray Khalfani Worker Justice Unemployment Insurance Bill Analysis: House Bill 518 and Senate Bill 160 March 22, 2023 / March 22, 2023 by Ray Khalfani As of Crossover Day, March 6, 2023, Georgia’s House and Senate each voted to pass unemployment insurance (UI) bills, House Bill (HB) 518 and Senate Bill (SB) 160, out of their respective chambers. These bills have three main provisions: 1) suppressing new employers’ UI Trust Fund contribution rate from 2.7 percent to 2.64 […] Read more » Department of Labor ui trust fund Unemployment unemployment benefits Unemployment Insurance unemployment trust fund worker justice worker rights workforce
Bill Analysis Budget and Taxes K-12 Education Stephen Owens Fact Sheet: Voucher Dollars Take from the Many to Benefit the Few March 22, 2023 / March 24, 2023 by Stephen Owens Using data from the state’s expenses for the existing tax credit voucher and comparing to population data, it’s clear that vouchers drain money from rural Georgia to benefit a few counties. Fulton County, for example, only has 10 percent of the state’s population, but used over 20 percent of the total tax credit […] Read more » education budget k-12 education k12 Private School Scholarships private schools public-schools school vouchers
