On Monday, March 9, the Georgia House of Representatives returned to the Capitol for week nine of the legislative session, which was the busiest week of the session so far, and on Thursday, March 12, we reached Legislative Day 28, or “Cross Over Day.” Cross Over Day is a critical deadline in the General Assembly, as it is the last day a piece of legislation can pass out of its original chamber and still remain eligible for consideration by the opposite legislative chamber.

An important announcement came during the ninth week of session as Speaker of the House David Ralston and Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan made the decision to suspend the 2020 legislative session until further notice due to the growing threat of COVID-19 (coronavirus) across the state and country. We suspended the legislative session indefinitely after we adjourned for Legislative Day 29 on Friday, March 13.

Before we suspended the legislative session, the House passed the most important piece of legislation of the session, House Bill 793, which is the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY 2021) budget. The FY 2021 budget is set at a revenue estimate of $28.1 billion and is $566.3 million, or 2.06 percent, over the original fiscal year 2020 budget. HB 793 demonstrates the House’s ongoing support of expanded mental health core and crisis intervention services, access to quality health care and restoring grants for county health departments and public libraries. It also includes the reinstatement of funds to ensure a fully-functioning criminal justice system, including adequate funding for public defenders, accountability courts and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) crime labs. It also funds economic development projects and Quality Basic Education (QBE) would be fully funded for the third year in a row. The House’s version of the FY 2021 budget demonstrates our support for educators by providing a $1,000 pay raise for certified teachers and personnel, including counselors, social workers, psychologists, special education specialists, speech and language pathologists and media and technology specialists. With the $3,000 pay raise from FY 2020 included, the combined $4,000 pay raise represents an 11.7 percent increase to the FY 2019 base teacher salary. Compared to neighboring states in the South, Georgia has the highest average teacher salary. We also appropriated $24.8 million to fully fund the school counselor ratio, $6.2 million for a five percent pay raise for bus drivers and lunchroom workers and a two percent raise for school nurses. We also gave a two percent pay raise to all our dedicated state employees as well.

The House passed an important bill at the recommendation of the House Study Committee on Maternal Mortality, which determined that extending Medicaid coverage to new mothers is critical to addressing life-threatening postpartum health issues. House Bill 1114 provides and extends these necessary and life-saving services for new mothers and babies in our state.

We also passed legislation this week to provide paid parental leave to all of Georgia’s state employees as their families grow. House Bill 1094 would provide approximately 246,000 state employees with three weeks, or 120 hours, of paid leave upon the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

The House also passed legislation this week to reform and lower personal income taxes for Georgians. House Bill 949 would lower Georgia’s personal income tax to a flat rate of 5.375 percent. The corporate tax rate, already a flat tax, would remain at 5.75 percent. HB 949 would also institute a new Georgia Income Tax Credit for working families to offset the flattening of the tax brackets. At the recommendation of Gov. Kemp, this legislation would also triple the Adoption Tax Credit from $2,000 to $6,000 for the first five years after adoption starting with all adoptions in 2020. If signed into law, this plan would go into effect January 1, 2021 and provide approximately a quarter billion dollars in total tax relief each year.

My colleagues and I also overwhelmingly passed legislation to strengthen the state’s adoption laws to continue to place more foster children in their forever homes. House Bill 913 would reduce the statutory age at which a person is allowed to petition for adoption from 25 to 21 years old, enabling more families to adopt children in our state.

Finally, we added a revenue increase of $100 million from the Revenue Shortfall Reserve to be appropriated to the Governor’s Emergency Fund for COVID-19 (coronavirus) preparedness and response efforts, and it adds $5 million to rural hospitals to prepare for the spread of coronavirus The House and Senate Appropriations committees worked extremely hard to finalize the AFY 2020 budget based on a more accurate revenue estimate, and this budget will ensure that our state funds are used wisely and efficiently for the remainder of the fiscal year, while keeping the health and safety of Georgians a priority.

Now that the legislative session is suspended indefinitely, my colleagues and I will return to our House districts for the time being. However, legislation that passed before Cross Over Day adjourned will still be eligible for consideration once we return to the Gold Dome for the remaining 11 legislative days of the session. During this recess period, I encourage you to reach out to me if you have any questions regarding bills that may still be up for consideration. I appreciate your input and feedback regarding legislation as your thoughts and opinions on these critical issues are essential to my decision-making process.

As always, thank you for allowing me to serve as your representative.