The Georgia Senate Appropriations Committee passed a $27.2 billion state spending plan Monday for fiscal year 2022.
The proposal for state spending from July 1 to June 30, 2022, reflects a 5.3% increase in expenditures over the current fiscal year’s original spending plan.
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Georgia will use $277 million in federal coronavirus relief for local transportation projects, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said Monday.
Kemp’s office said the money was set aside for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to offset projected COVID-19-related revenue gaps.
“I am thankful for these one-time federal resources that will help keep Georgians working while also keeping our economy on the road to recovery,” Kemp said.
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Georgia’s decision to delay processing tax year 2020 individual returns helped lead to a net tax collection of nearly $2 billion in February.
Georgia followed the Internal Revenue Service’s guidance of not accepting and processing 2020 returns until Feb. 12. The deferment led to a delay in tax refunds, which resulted in higher than usual individual income tax collections, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said in a news release.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto Wednesday night that he will support former president Donald J. Trump in 2024, if Trump decides to run for president again and becomes the Republican Party nominee.
“Absolutely, I’m going to support the nominee,” Kemp said. “As I said, again, I worked very hard for the president. I think his ideas … will be part of our party for a long time in the future. And Republicans, we need to have a big tent. I mean, there’s a lot of great ideas out there.”
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This week, Georgia rolled out a COVID-19 vaccination registration website, as the state gears up to begin vaccinating more residents.
“COVID-19 vaccines continue to arrive in Georgia in extremely limited supply,” the site’s homepage says. “As we await additional vaccine supply from the Federal Government, we urge currently eligible Georgia residents to pre-register today.”
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The Georgia General Assembly approved a more than $650 million increase in spending for fiscal year 2021 on Thursday after lawmakers in the Senate and House came to agreement on an amended budget.
Lawmakers approved a plan that restores 60% of K-12 school funding and adds spending for public health, state employee raises, broadband internet expansion, higher education and state vehicles. The bill now heads to Gov. Brian Kemp for final approval.
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Georgia Department of Labor officials said claims the agency caused a delay that could harm the state’s financial rating are inaccurate.
Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, said the state could be at risk of losing its AAA rating if the state auditor doesn’t receive additional documents from the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) to complete the state’s end-of-year comprehensive financial report.
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A group of Republicans launched a committee to fight former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, a Democrat, who is likely to challenge Republican Gov. Brian Kemp again in 2022.
“Leaders of the new independent committee, known as ‘Stop Stacey,’ say they will build a ‘robust state and national fundraising operation’ in order to target Abrams with opposition research, digital ads and other paid media,” a Fox News report said.
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At least six people were killed and nine were injured in a liquid nitrogen leak at a Georgia poultry plant, officials said.
Firefighters arrived at the Foundation Food Group plant in Gainesville, Georgia just after 10 a.m. on Thursday after receiving reports of burns, said Zach Brackett, a local fire chief, at a news conference.
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The Georgia Senate Republican Caucus on Monday seated 16 electors for President Donald Trump, State Senator Brandon Beach (R-GA-21) told the Georgia Star News.
The seating of the electors is in the event that the U.S. Supreme Court does not certify Georgia for Joe Biden, Beach told The Star News.
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Drop-boxes will have cost President Donald Trump the election if Biden wins Georgia, and this points to the state’s most important concern for the upcoming Senate runoffs, Pollster John McLaughlin said in an exclusive statement to The Georgia Star News.
McLaughlin is CEO and partner of national survey research and strategic services company McLaughlin & Associates.
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Shortly after initially ruling Sunday that state officials must seize and preserve voting machines and data, a federal judge reportedly changed his mind to clear the way for machines to be reset or wiped.
The second order was issued by Senior Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division. It came in a civil suit asking Gov. Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and others to decertify the election results, protect machines and verify ballot signatures.
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President Donald Trump’s legal team on Saturday said they had filed a petition for a recount in Georgia, one that would match signatures on absentee ballot envelopes, which the state did not do in the previous effort.
The team made the announcement in a statement.
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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), who is on the defensive with his fellow Republicans over his handling of the election and the recount, is now lobbying a serious accusation against U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and blaming President Donald Trump for not receiving more votes.
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