On March 10, 2020, I gave a speech in the Georgia House about the terrible budget cuts Governor Kemp and the Republicans want. Here is a short synopsis of my speech. Please watch the video for the entire message.
The current budget being debated in the Georgia Legislature doesn’t represent the best interests of my district or the people of Georgia.
It is a myth that giving people a return on their investment is giving them free stuff. Seventy five percent of our $28 billion budget comes directly from pockets of tax payers from income and sales tax.
Our job is to make sure the money is being used in the best interest of our tax payers. We are being asked to make cuts to the budget because of poor decisions by the Trump administration who cut taxes to the rich causing a shift in the tax base and reducing growth from 4% to 1%.
There is a small increase of $1000 to teachers’ salaries but at the same time their pensions are reduced. We are not expanding medicaid or medicare and there is no money in the budget for the corona virus. We are giving money to private prisons while reducing money for the state prisons.
How can we tell our constituents that this is the best we can do? This budget does NOT reflect our values or benefit the people we serve.