Political Rewind: Getting back to the budget under the Gold Dome

Caption

Dawn breaks outside the Georgia Capitol Jan. 10, 2022, on the morning of the first day of the legislative session.

Credit: Riley Bunch, GPB News

The Panel:

James Salzer – Assistant senior editor of state government and politics, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

Leo Smith – GOP consultant and president, Engaged Futures 

Rep. Teri Anulewicz – State representative (D-Smyrna) 

The Breakdown:

1. Lawmakers return to the capitol to tackle the proposed $30.2 billion dollar budget.

• Gov. Brian Kemp unveiled his budget proposal earlier this month. Among its provisions:
  • New funds to replace old prisons.
  • To bolster the state's health care, money is tagged to address shortcomings in rural physician shortages and to improve pay for physicians treating Georgians with Medicaid.
• The Georgia Budget & Policy Institute said the budget is 11% bigger than last year, an increase of around $3 billion.
• Unprecedented federal COVID relief helped the state maintain a surplus heading into this fiscal year.

2. Future of Medicaid in Georgia is up in the air.

• The Peach State is one of 12 states that has not expanded Medicaid.
• In his State of the State speech earlier this month,  Gov. Brian Kemp made no mention of Georgia’s federal Medicaid waiver proposal.
• Just last week, Georgia launched a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its decision to revoke approval of a work requirement for the waivers.

3. Buckhead cityhood and East Cobb cityhood take different paths in legislative session. 

• Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens addressed lawmakers this morning at the invitation of state House Speaker David Ralston. Dickens opposes the Buckhead cityhood movement.

• Earlier this month, the bill creating a referendum on Buckhead cityhood, SB 324, was moved to an all Democrat-led committee where it is likely to fail.

Tomorrow on Political Rewind:

One of the highest-ranking Republicans in state politics, Speaker David Ralston, joins us to talk about what to expect from the 2022 General Assembly session.