Report: Georgia surplus grows even more

Georgia’s surplus just gets bigger and bigger.

The Atlanta Journal-constitution reported in July that state tax collections for fiscal 2021, which ended June 30, were up a record $3.2 billion.

A new report shows that once state agencies returned leftover money, that surplus grew to about $3.7 billon.

The state pushed $1.6 billion of those excess funds into its rainy day reserve, allowing it to swell to almost $4.3 billion — enough to run the state government for two months.

There’s still a $2 billion question: What should the state do with the remainder of the surplus?

With an election year coming for the governor and all 236 members of the General Assembly, the suggestion box could quickly fill to capacity.

Gov. Brian Kemp’s press secretary, Katie Byrd, highlighted some areas where money could go.

“Looking ahead to the next legislative session, the governor looks forward to working with both the House and Senate on a number of their priorities — in addition to the governor’s previous commitments from the campaign trail to raise educator pay, exempt military and first responder retirement pay from state income tax, and make it more affordable for Georgia families to send their kids to college.”

That boost in educator pay — a pledge Kemp made on the campaign trail to increase teacher salaries by $5,000, including $3,000 that’s already been handed out — comes with a price tag of about $350 million a year.

Kemp’s fellow Republicans in the Legislature are likely to make their own recommendations. Cutting taxes will probably head the list.

Democrats, the minority party, will likely propose increasing school spending and providing health care coverage to more Georgians, probably through an expansion of Medicaid.

This pile of cash was nowhere on the radar a year ago, when tight budgets became the rule in expectation that the coronavirus pandemic would hit Georgia’s economy hard.

Instead, the state saw revenue grow 13.5% in 2021 over 2020.