[ February 14, 2022 ] We are in the fifth week of the 2022 legislative session. Each session meeting this week was longer as more legislation made its way to the House floor, including the bill for the Amended Fiscal Year (AFY) 2022 budget. To some, budget work is boring, but you can't believe the amount of work that goes into the budget we vote on. Governor Kemp?s revenue folks and House and Senate staff work year-round to bring us accurate figures to base our work. We, the members of the different legislative appropriations groups, then question state government department heads and go over their requests with a fine-tooth comb.

We voted on the work for the amended budget on Friday, and it passed with a very bipartisan vote (three no?s). Due to the best growing economy in the country, we were able to address some vital workforce needs in our state. We are able to put in $900 million for salary increases for state employees, educators, and other school employees. We also restored $383 million that is needed to fully fund our K-12 education system using the Quality Basic Education (QBE) formula, for the second time ever.

The Amended Budget includes $263 million to meet the projected need from increased enrollment in the state?s Medicaid program. It also includes an additional $1.7 million for the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce to fund Georgia medical residency spots, so those doctors will practice medicine in the rural parts of our state. We have also funded increases in spending for Autism, and increased the number of students in our state nursing programs. You know in previous articles I have talked about mental health, and this amended budget has dollars in it to encourage our citizens to study mental health courses and to work in the field.

We worked hard to keep Georgians safe by supporting our Law Enforcement and Corrections systems. Making prisons safer for inmates and our employees was funded as well as spending to replace an aging fleet of vehicles. We also funded the GBI with four elections complaint investigators. This is the first step; the amended budget now goes to the senate.

Also, this week we voted to add a new superior court judge to the Blue Ridge court system which includes Cherokee County. These are earned by work load. We also voted to allow the citizens of Vinings, Lost Mountain, and East Cobb to vote on whether they want to become a city. There was a lot of debate on this for sure.

Our committees work every day and some early in the morning to hear bills that state representatives have brought forward. This is when it gets really busy, due to the looming crossover day coming up in a few weeks. I have received a number of calls about all sorts of issues, and I am glad you trust me to answer them. It has always been one of my top priorities to help my constituents and to hear your feedback about the work we are doing in Atlanta. I encourage you to reach out if you have any questions or concerns regarding legislation that has been discussed or passed so far. You can reach my Capitol office at 404-656-7153, or you can email me directly at rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov.

As always, thank you for allowing me to serve as your State Representative and legislative voice here at the Capitol.