Ben Watson
State senator
As we entered budget week at the Capitol, the Georgia Legislature was supposed to have their budget hearings where the various state agencies came forth with their budgets for the remainder of fiscal year 2024-25 budget and their requests and needs for the fiscal year 2025-26 budget. Unfortunately, much of the southeast United States was hit with a major winter storm that saw most of the state hit with several inches of snow, thus shutting down the ability of legislators to travel to Atlanta, and the Capitol shut down.
Many roads were impassable and coated with ice due to the freezing temperatures, and all business for this week was cancelled. We will now move forward with day six of the General Assembly session on Monday, January 27.
Even though there were no budget hearings this past week, many of us were working through the week at home to determine the Governor’s State of the State address and making plans for those directives from the governor.
In response to rapidly increasing water supply demands, the City of Savannah engaged in productive conversations with utility partners in Effingham County and Bryan County on a framework for a new Coastal Georgia Regional Water Supply (CGRW) partnership. This new utility partnership will address the immediate and future water demands of the region as it currently experiences unprecedented growth that is forecasted to continue over the next decade. The governor’s AYF 2025 budget report recommends a total of $501.7 million be appropriated through the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority via grants and loans to support the project’s initial infrastructure, which includes Effingham County receiving $319 million for new intake/ plant, Savannah receiving $146 million for expansion of its water filtration plant, and Bryan County receiving $36.7 million for transmission lines. Moving to school safety, the governor outlined a proposal for placing a school safety officer in every school. Protecting our students and teachers has become a key priority for all of us in the General Assembly and we will look to allocating $47,000 to each school for the hiring of a full-time school safety officer. This is just a start as we look forward to several school safety initiatives this year. We will also look to finish up the funding for our popular school choice program with an additional $1.7 million for students in public schools, $98,000 for private school students and $91,000 for home schoolers. The School Choice program allocates a fixed amount of state money to the student, not the school thus allowing the student and parents to select the school that best fits their educational needs.
This past November, in a state referendum, House Bill 581 was approved by 63% of Georgia voters. HB 581 is akin to what all residents in Chatham County have enjoyed with the Stephens-Day property tax freezing laws. With the passage of the state law, government entities are given the option of opting out of the program and there are a series of hearings and a public vote to avoid this tax-saving initiative. But in Chatham County and with all of its municipalities, they are looking to opt out as their current Stephens-Day laws are stronger than the state bill allows.
I will keep you updated on legislation affecting our community as we progress through the session. Thank you for your continued interest in the work of our General Assembly. As your public servant, feel free to visit me at the Capitol or to reach out to me by phone or email. I am in 325A, Coverdell Legislative Office Building.
My office phone number is (404) 656-7880, and my email is ben.watson@senate.ga.gov. I look forward to continuing to serve you.