New Investments in Public Safety & Mental Health Total More Than $65 Million
ATLANTA – Today, Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) announced that the Georgia House of Representatives passed House Bill 911, the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY 2023) State Budget. The budget totals $30.2 billion, an increase of $2.9 billion or 10.8 percent over the original FY 2022 budget, demonstrating the state’s strong economic growth as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes.
“The strength of Georgia’s economy and our conservative budgeting practices have enabled us to return more than a billion dollars to taxpayers in the same year we are making critical investments in public safety and mental health,” said Speaker Ralston. “My thanks to our Appropriations Committee, particularly Chairman Terry England and his subcommittee chairs, for their good work on this budget that reflects Georgia’s priorities and invests for the future.”
Last summer, Speaker Ralston proposed a number of new and additional investments in public safety and mental health services. Over the last nine months, the House Appropriations Committee worked with several state agencies to continually refine that proposal based on strategic needs and agency capabilities. As a result, those additional investments in public safety and mental health were increased to more than $65 million which can be found throughout the FY 23 budget.
Among public safety agencies, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) will receive an additional $18 million which will enable GBI to hire 67 additional staff and retain current staff in critical areas including forensic labs and the medical examiner’s office to speed evidence processing and investigations. The Georgia Department of Public Safety will receive an additional $4.9 million to hire additional state troopers and expand crisis intervention training opportunities for law enforcement officers statewide.
An additional $5.5 million will be invested in the state’s accountability court system to create five new mental health accountability courts, provide raises for accountability court employees and provide additional specialized staff support. An additional $16 million will go toward additional staff positions and salary increases for the state’s prosecutors and public defenders to assist with recruitment and retention. The Georgia Department of Law will receive an additional $2 million to hire additional staff to focus on prosecuting human traffickers and gang members.
The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities has an additional $9.7 allocated to fund a new 16-bed and 50 temporary observation chair behavioral health crisis center, as well as $3.8 million to retrofit another facility in Augusta to add eight beds and 16 observation chairs. An additional $6.3 million is budgeted for opening additional bed space at the 18-bed adult medical psychiatric unit at Grady Memorial Hospital. The Georgia Crisis and Access Line receives $2.1 million to prepare for the launch of the national 988 hotline.
The budget also includes $6.6 million to fund 325 additional slots for the New Options Waiver (NOW) and Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program (COMP) for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
As always, educating Georgia’s children remains a key priority reflected in the FY 23 state budget. The Quality Basic Education (QBE) funding formula for public schools is fully funded at more than $11.8 billion. An additional $3 million is also provided to maintain charter school facilities.
The Georgia Student Finance Commission received additional funding for service cancellable loans to boost recruitment and retention among key state employees including state medical examiners, National Guard members, law enforcement officers and mental health practitioners.
The FY 2023 budget now goes to the State Senate for consideration. For more information on House Bill 911, visit https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/61136.
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***Editor’s Note: An extensive summary of the FY 2023 state budget, prepared by the House Budget & Research Office, is available by clicking here.