Dempsey: Preserving services important
Rep. Katie Dempsey won’t get another vote on what goes into the state budget — but the chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee on human resources is still looking for ways to preserve funding for programs she views as important.
“The main focus for us will be to see where we can have the least impact on services in mental health and developmental disabilities — so people can stay on the right path, have a meaningful life,” the Rome
Republican said.
Fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has escalated the needs of people struggling with mental illness, addiction and thoughts of suicide, Dempsey said. Family support services, including for autism and cancer, are also a lifeline, she said.
And the state must be careful to maintain community-based services required under a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice involving the closure of state facilities such as Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital in Rome.
“If there are savings that can be found in another part of the budget, perhaps that can help . ... We may not need across-theboard cuts in every agency,” Dempsey said. “We’ll see what we can do, to at least keep the footprint in place.”
The Georgia General Assembly reconvened Monday for the last 11 days of the 2020 session, when the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 must be adopted.
The House passed its version over to the Senate on March 10, with the 6% cuts directed by Gov. Brian Kemp at that time. Facing a dire economic forecast, Kemp upped the cuts to 14% — which was being done in the Senate Appropriations Committee. He’s since lowered it to 11%.
What happens next is that the Senate must pass its version of the budget, and then a conference committee made up of three appointees from each chamber will meet to hammer out the differences. That will be the final budget presented again to each chamber for a quick passage.
Dempsey said she’s hopeful money can be added back as the economy improves — maybe in a special session before next January’s regular adjustments. Meanwhile, she said she’s still trying to work out and lobby for the priorities of her agencies and the people they serve.
“We have had hours and hours of meetings on the impacts. I do a lot of conference calls ... We’ve been on calls, Zoom, other platforms,” she said.
“No one wants these deep cuts but it’s the reality, so it’s important to listen and learn their priorities . ... There are always a lot of emails and documents, but now they are massive. Massive.”
Meanwhile, state senators are also looking for new revenue that could offset some cuts.
“Tax credits will probably have the most extensive look they’ve had in many, many years,” said Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, Rrome.
“Some of them, to me, haven’t made sense. I think you’re going to see a hard look at them.”
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said there also are “a lot of proposals out there” for increased taxes. Hufstetler said he couldn’t predict which, if any, would gain traction but he has always favored raising the tobacco tax.
“It doesn’t make sense to cut money for health care when we could raise revenue from something that negatively affects health,” he said.
While Hufstetler won’t be involved in the appropriations deliberations, his Finance Committee will be meeting several times.
A Monday session was slated to review a proposed update to the Internal Revenue Code. He said he expects it to mirror 95% of the changes made by the federal government in recent months, “to simplify things for taxpayers and tax preparers.”
The agenda for a session set for 2:15 p.m. Thursday had not been finalized as of Tuesday afternoon.