ICYMI: Brian Kemp’s Budget Deals In The Dark Leave Georgians – And His Fellow Lawmakers – Behind

ATLANTA –  This month, the first of Governor* Brian Kemp’s draconian budget cuts take effect for Georgia state agencies — without Kemp’s office having shared information on the millions of dollars in cuts with Georgia taxpayers, journalists, or even Kemp’s fellow lawmakers. 

Earlier this week, the Georgia legislature had to make another request from Kemp’s office and state agencies to share information on the cuts, after Kemp’s administration banned agencies from sharing their budget cut plans with legislators or attending public hearings.

Since the governor’s office has failed to share any concrete details about how they’re slashing hundreds of millions of dollars from state essential services, here’s a roundup of what we do know: 

• The governor’s office has demanded over half a billion dollars in cuts over the next 2 years, which threaten key funding for state agencies and could result in hundreds of job losses (AJC, 9.27.2019).
• These cuts “paint a picture of austerity not seen since the Great Recession” (AJC, 9.10.2019).
• Budget cuts will hurt programs across the board, including domestic violence shelters and sexual assault centers, Nathan Deal’s criminal justice reforms, war veterans’ nursing homes, and key maternal mortality research. (AJC, 9.10.2019).
• Kemp’s plan would cut $10 million dollars from Georgia’s Medicaid agency – while he continues to refuse to fully expand Medicaid to Georgians in need. (AJC, 8.22.2019)

“Right now, state agencies are acting on Brian Kemp’s extreme budget cuts, without any transparency on how hundreds of millions of dollars are being axed from essential programs to the public, to the press, or even Kemp’s fellow lawmakers,” said Maggie Chambers, spokeswoman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “Georgians can’t trust Brian Kemp to protect their basic rights even in the light of day. We certainly can’t trust him when he’s making major budget decisions in the dark.” 

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