(The Center Square) – Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp slashed $300 million from the fiscal year 2027 budget he said is due to tax cuts he signed on Monday.
“When I introduced my balanced budget recommendation in January, it was based on a general fund revenue estimate of $36.6 billion,” Kemp said as he signed the budget. “With the tax cuts the General Assembly passed, and I signed into law yesterday, the state must now address a reduction in revenue for this coming fiscal year of nearly $1 billion, and that’s assuming we don’t have an economic downturn.”
The governor’s line-item veto message sent to state agencies on Tuesday includes 171 pages with language that is not considered binding.
One of the largest line-item vetoes was nearly $12 million in debt service for school safety equipment grants.
Under items passed by lawmakers but considered nonbinding are two prison projects. Kemp, term limited and signing a budget for the final time, cut $2.3 million that would expand Lee Arrendale State Prison. He also sliced out $3.2 million for private prisons.
Kemp retained a new program that puts literacy coaches in every elementary school and enhanced retirement benefits for state law enforcement officers.
“Let me be clear: we’re talking about new spending; we aren’t making any cuts to or rolling back any parts of current programs,” Kemp said. “We’re preserving existing services while bringing total spending into alignment with projected revenues, just like every Georgia household has to do.”
Kemp cautioned that meeting the fiscal year 2027 budget, which begins July 1, will be challenging.
“Even with these actions, the state may still need to rely on reserve funds to meet obligations in fiscal year 2027,” Kemp said. “As we move through the first half of the fiscal year, we’ll continue to evaluate the state’s financial position in preparation for the amended budget process.”
Kemp used $1 billion of state surplus funds to issue income tax rebates to Georgia taxpayers. He signed House Bill 483 on Monday, which gradually reduces the state income tax from 5.19% to 3.99% over the next eight years.
“Other states are dealing with budget shortfalls and thinking about raising taxes on their citizens,” Kemp said. “Here in Georgia, we’re giving money back to the taxpayers, and we’re only able to do that because we maintain fiscal discipline.”