Georgia governor signs budget boosting spending, looking to surplus billions to cut taxes in future

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is both increasing spending and cutting taxes as state tax revenues decline, saying he is looking to the state’s billions in surplus to allow him to remain on that course.

The Republican governor on Tuesday signed a $36.1 billion budget for the year beginning July 1 that will boost pay for public school teachers and state employees, while spending more on education, health care and mental health.

Including federal money and other funds such as college tuition, the state will spend $66.8 billion overall.

In remarks to reporters at the state Capitol after signing the spending plan, Kemp said this year’s legislative session “offered something for everybody.”

Georgia has $5.4 billion set aside in its rainy day fund, which is filled to its legal limit of 15% of state revenue. Beyond that, it had $10.7 billion in surplus cash collected over three years. Lawmakers approved Kemp’s plan to spend more than $2 billion of the surplus in changes to the current budget, which ends June 30. But that would leave more than $8 billion in reserve.

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