House leaders back boost for schools, mental health

Georgia House leaders on Thursday approved a $27 billion state budget for the coming year that continues to backfill spending cuts lawmakers made to areas such as education, mental health care and law enforcement in 2020 due to the COVID19 pandemic.

The spending plan does not include pay raises for most of the state’s more than 200,000 educators and workers, although it offers some in select agencies with high turnover rates.

But the House Appropriations Committee vote on Thursday is just the first legislative step for the fiscal 2022 budget — which goes into effect July 1 — so more changes can be expected before the General Assembly session concludes at the end of March.