The Georgia House Appropriations Committee approved Gov. Brian Kemp's $37.5 billion fiscal 2024 midyear budget Tuesday.
With the state sitting on an unprecedented $16 billion surplus, lawmakers signed off on a $5 billion spending increase, 15.6% above the 2024 budget the General Assembly adopted last spring.
'For the first time in several years, agencies were able to ask for 3% enhancements,' said Rep. Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, the committee's chairman.
The House version of the midyear budget includes $1.1 billion in one-time capital investments for several projects. The list includes $450 million for a new state prison in Washington County, $178 million for a new dental school at Georgia Southern University's Armstrong campus in Savannah, and $50 million for a new medical school at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Infrastructure improvements funded in the midyear spending plan include $250 million for low-interest loans to finance water and sewer projects, $100 million for the OneGeorgia Authority to fund rural economic development, and $23.9 million for rural workforce housing.
The House midyear budget reduced funding for several of those one-time spending items, as the committee shifted money to other priorities.
House budget writers supported the governor's recommendation for $300 million in $1,000 one-time pay supplements for 112,000 state employees and 196,000 teachers and school support staff. Additional raises are included in Kemp's $36.1 billion fiscal 2025 budget, which the General Assembly will take up later this month.