Kemp touts budget wins, tax refunds, state pay raises

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - At a Cobb Chamber event Monday, Gov. Brian Kemp took a victory lap of sorts on the recently wrapped legislative session and the state’s new budget.

Touting another round of income tax refunds and pay raises for the state’s teachers, police officers and child welfare workers, Kemp, the event’s keynote speaker, once again called Georgia the best place to do business, mainly because of a thriving workforce.

“It’s probably our biggest recruitment tool but also our biggest challenge,” he said. “Every state in the country, coming out of COVID, was dealing with workforce issues and thankfully we have done better than most.”

Kemp noted the 637 economic development projects the state has lent a hand to in the last five years, creating 91,000 jobs and totaling an investment of around $40 billion in the 29 counties that make up metro Atlanta.

He also noted another drop in the state’s income tax this year, from 5.75% to 5.39%. The legislation to eventually bring the income tax in Georgia below 5% was signed two years ago.

Kemp also discussed additions to the budget, including an added $1.5 billion to the state’s Department of Transportation for and ongoing road projects, and $100 million for school safety improvements, an issue Kemp ran on in his second campaign for governor.

But some lawmakers in attendance were more intrigued by what the governor didn’t talk about.

State Rep. Teri Anulewicz, a Smyrna Democrat, said Kemp’s picture of Georgia’s workforce was rosy but incomplete.

“Yes, our economy is booming but we have to make sure, and what we haven’t been talking about, is while we are the number one state for business, we are one of the worst states in of protections for workers,” she said. “We are putting out an amazingly talented workforce, we have to make sure that we have protections in place so that those workers know that they are valued and that they are treated with the dignity that they deserve.”

With the event being held at The Battery – home of Truist Park and the Atlanta Braves – Anulewicz was also disappointed that the governor didn’t discuss a failed effort to legalize sports betting in Georgia. Proceeds from sports betting would help fund the state’s HOPE college scholarship program, helping Georgia students pay for secondary education.

“Here at the home of the Braves we didn’t talk about sports betting and because we didn’t talk about sports betting, we didn’t talk about the things that bringing that revenue – capturing that revenue – would do for the state of Georgia,” she said. “I personally know families that have had to make the decision to go out of state where their child might get a better offer from a private school. We’re losing some of our smartest kids.”

Anulewicz was also disappointed the governor didn’t discuss Medicaid expansion. Georgia is leaving billions of dollars in federal incentives on the table by failing to expand the state’s Medicaid program, leaving around half a million additional Georgians without access to federal health benefits.

“It would bring back to Georgia millions and millions of our federal tax dollars that we are sending up to D.C. and right now we are losing out on that money,” said Anulewicz. “Expanding Medicaid would go so far towards making Georgia a healthier place for everyone and it is the fiscally responsible thing to do.”

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