The $20.8 billion budget proposed for Georgia’s 2015 fiscal year projects general fund revenue growth of 4.3 percent, or $807 million more than the recently revised 2014 revenue estimate. State revenues are back to pre-recession levels, but the proposed budget still incorporates in its base several billion dollars in program cuts made during the past five years.
While revenue grew since the 2011 fiscal year, most of the increase was consumed by student-driven formula growth in K-12 schools and higher education, growth of Medicaid and the State Health Benefit Plan, and required contributions to state employee and teacher retirement systems. Other than court-mandated investments in mental health and developmental disability programs, revenue growth the past four years has generally not been used to restore programs to pre-recession levels, or to create new programs. Download the full report.
