Budget and Taxes Cash and Safety Net Health Justice Higher Education K-12 Education People Powered Prosperity Worker Justice New Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for GBPI’s People-First Plan July 27, 2018 / May 19, 2020 by John McCosh An overwhelming majority of Georgians want the state to invest in people-first strategies including expanded access to education and mental health services, while raising new revenue to pay for them, according to a Mason-Dixon statewide poll conducted this month. “We’re thrilled that the poll revealed widespread support for GBPI’s People-Powered Prosperity vision,” said Taifa Butler, […] Read more » Education Georgia Work Credit Georgians health people-first People-Powered Prosperity State Taxes tax breaks
Budget Primer Health Justice Laura Harker Reports Georgia Health Budget Primer for State Fiscal Year 2019 July 1, 2018 / October 13, 2026 by Laura Harker Download PDF Georgia Health Care Budget Overview Health care services are primarily delivered through three state agencies, the departments of Community Health, Public Health, and Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. State funding for these three agencies totals $4.8 billion in 2019, which is about 19 percent of state general spending. General Fund appropriations for these […] Read more » Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Budget health medicaid PeachCare Public Health uninsured rate
GBPI In The News State representatives push for Medicaid expansion June 26, 2018 / May 19, 2020 by GBPI Admin ALBANY, GA (WALB) – Hundreds of thousands of people in Georgia cannot afford health insurance, but also don’t qualify for Medicaid. That’s according to Georgia lawmakers who want to change that. “About 1.2 million residents don’t have any health insurance,” said Laura Harker, a policy analyst with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI). Read the full article […] Read more » health Laura Harker Medicaid Expansion
Fact Sheets Health Justice Laura Harker Food Assistance Helps Promote a Healthy Georgia June 20, 2018 / March 15, 2021 by Laura Harker About 1.7 million Georgians receive help to put meals on the table through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Lawmakers in the U.S. Congress are considering changes to SNAP with the potential to reduce food benefits and increase costs and overhead for states. These threats to SNAP pose a risk of hunger for Georgia […] Read more » farm bill health SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Blog Community Impact Health Justice Laura Harker Rome Listening Tour Provides Earful on Community Mental Health Problems May 23, 2018 / May 19, 2020 by Laura Harker Talk to people around Rome, Ga. for a while and the conversation often shifts to the lingering stresses that plague the community after a state mental health facility closed seven years ago. Homelessness. Drug abuse. People with mental disabilities stuck in jail cells. The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute team visited Rome earlier this month […] Read more » Behavioral Health Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities health medicaid mental health Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital People-Powered Prosperity Rome
Blog Health Justice Laura Harker Legislation Proposes Steps to Improve Rural Health Care, Omits Major Coverage Solution March 12, 2018 / January 14, 2020 by Laura Harker State lawmakers introduced several bills this year aiming to improve access to health care in rural Georgia. Six rural Georgia hospitals closed since 2013 and the state’s high rate of uninsured means many people in rural communities lack health coverage. The House Rural Development Council, created in 2017 to study the problem, traveled across the […] Read more » coverage-gap HB 769 HB 827 health health coverage health insurance medicaid Medicaid Expansion micro-hospitals Rural hospitals
Health Justice Laura Harker Reports Overview: 2019 Fiscal Year Budget for Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities February 13, 2018 / January 14, 2020 by Laura Harker Gov. Nathan Deal’s budget proposal for the 2019 fiscal year adds $50.6 million more than last year’s budget in state general funds for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. The budget directs $14.9 million in state funds toward waiver programs and community support services. This helps continue implementation of a 2010 settlement with […] Read more » Budget Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities health opioids substance abuse
Health Justice Laura Harker Reports Overview: 2019 Fiscal Year Budget for the Department of Community Health February 6, 2018 / January 14, 2020 by Laura Harker Gov. Nathan Deal proposes a 2019 budget of $2.79 billion in state general funds for the Department of Community Health. This is an increase of $249.2 million from the 2018 fiscal year, mostly to replace non-recurring court settlement funds in last year’s budget and to offset a decrease in the federal matching rate for Medicaid. […] Read more » Budget Department of Community Health health medicaid Medicaid Expansion PeachCare Rural hospitals
Blog Taifa Smith Butler Worker Justice Make a $1 Billion Investment in Georgia’s Youth, Workers, Families and Communities January 29, 2018 / January 14, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler As published by SaportaReport You’ve no doubt heard many times Georgia is the No. 1 place to do business, but what if the state can also be the top place to settle and raise a family? That is the audacious vision the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute unveiled at its Jan. 25 policy conference under […] Read more » economy Education EITC Georgia Work Credit health Higher Education medicaid Medicaid Expansion People-Powered Prosperity
Blog People Powered Prosperity: A People-First Economic Vision for Georgia January 25, 2018 / February 26, 2021 by Wesley Tharpe Georgia today fails to fully leverage the state’s most powerful economic asset—its own people. The most successful, prosperous states are those that build a broad and inclusive middle class, with ample opportunities for people to work their way into it. When families hold good-paying jobs and have money to spend at local shops and restaurants, […] Read more » Economic Security Education health Higher Education HOPE Scholarship medicaid Safety Net