GPB: Gov. Brian Kemp signs 'historic' $30.2B budget (https://www.gpb.org/news/2022/05/12/gov-brian-kemp-signs-historic-302b-budget)
With the University of North Georgia in Blue Ridge as a backdrop, Gov. Brian Kemp signed the state's $30.2 billion fiscal year 2023 budget, which includes $5,000 pay raises for all state employees, including those who work at the state's colleges.
At the ceremony, Kemp called the budget "historic" in "enabling us to further invest in our classrooms, workforce, public safety, and health of all Georgians."
AJC: Kemp signs upcoming year’s budget with teacher pay raises (https://www.ajc.com/politics/kemp-signs-upcoming-years-budget-with-teacher-pay-raises/4U3Y2I7CWVDQDC4GOO4MLAWY4U/)
Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday signed a $30.2 billion state spending plan for the coming year that includes a $2,000 pay raise for teachers and continues attempts to slow state government turnover.
The budget will spend big money on priority areas: improving mental health care by boosting salaries and staff sizes, increasing access and adding more facilities such as hospital and crisis beds; aiding crime fighting; and enhancing schools and public health care programs.
11Alive: Gov. Kemp signs off on Georgia's budget (https://www.11alive.com/video/news/local/gov-kemp-signs-off-on-georgias-budget/85-1a8f1a57-4a14-4698-a47c-075be0578ecb)
The budget has a huge focus on education. It includes a 2,000 pay raise for teachers, eliminates the special institution fee students pay for public colleges and universities, and expands in demand career programs at technical colleges.
WGAU: Kemp signs state budget on UNG campus (https://www.wgauradio.com/news/local/kemp-signs-state-budget-ung-campus/IVIOXYJUZRE5XK5LXELVFLTFSE/)
On May 12, Gov. Brian Kemp signed the Fiscal Year 2023 state budget at the University of North Georgia’s Blue Ridge Campus. The university received $13 million in the budget for the construction of a new 25,000-square-foot building and additional parking at that campus. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2023 and be completed by fall 2024.
UNG’s Blue Ridge Campus has grown from 20 students when it opened in 2015 to about 230 for the 2021-22 academic year. The additional facility will provide specialized spaces for the College of Education to allow it to offer a blended cohort of students who will compete their degree in Blue Ridge. It will also enable the College of Health Sciences & Professions to offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program to existing students in the area who may have started through the Technical College System of Georgia or other programs.
Fox 5: Gov. Kemp signs 2023 budget into law (https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/gov-kemp-signs-2023-budget-into-law)
The $30.2 billion spending plan includes an additional $382 million to restore austerity cuts to the Quality Basic Education program that funds the state's K-12 public schools. It also gives teachers the final $2,000 of a $5,000 pay raise Gov. Kemp promised when he ran for office in 2018. For the first time in a decade, state employees will also get a $5,000 cost of living adjustment.
News4Jax: Georgia Gov. Kemp signs 2023 budget, which includes teacher pay raises (https://www.news4jax.com/news/georgia/2022/05/13/georgia-gov-kemp-signs-2023-budget-which-includes-teacher-pay-raises/)
The budget includes more funding for programs that help people with disabilities avoid being sent to a nursing home. The state normally adds about 100 slots each year to the program, which advocates say has a waiting list around 7,000 people. The $10.3 million boost would finance 513 new slots, which Tillery has said said is the maximum amount of new slots that could be created right now by disability support providers.
There will be additional $2,000 pay boosts for guards in prisons and juvenile justice facilities, additional pay boost for nurses and others workers at mental hospitals, plus an additional $4 million to boost guard salaries at private prisons that hold Georgia inmates. The state is also budgeting $10 million on prison technology programs, including trying to find or jam illicit cellphones.
Source: https://gov.georgia.gov/press-releases/2022-05-21/icymi-governor-kemp-travels-state-putting-georgians-first-makes-largest
