ATLANTA, Ga. — Georgia state agencies are asking for $39.6 billion for the 2028 fiscal year, about 3% more than the $38.5 billion state budget now in force, even after Gov. Brian Kemp told them to hold spending flat.
For the amended 2027 budget that lawmakers will take up first in January, agency requests total $38.8 billion, roughly 1% above current spending. Agencies also submitted another $1.2 billion in requests for capital projects.
Kemp set the tone in a July 17 memo from the Office of Planning and Budget. It directed agencies to keep state-funded spending at current 2027 levels in both budgets and said any non-mandatory growth had to be fully offset by identified savings elsewhere. Submissions were due to the budget office on Sept. 1.
Most of the new money sought is for costs the state is obligated to cover. About 85% of the added 2028 request would pay for Medicaid, which accounts for $343.7 million, K-12 public education at $260.8 million and higher education at $374.8 million.
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents is asking for $234 million more in 2028, including $188.1 million to cover a 4.4% rise in formula-funded credit hours and $19.7 million for the School of Medicine at the University of Georgia. HOPE Scholarship costs at public schools are projected to grow by $90.9 million next year.
The Department of Education is requesting $39.8 million in 2028 to cover added formula costs for literacy coaches, and the Department of Transportation is seeking $94.9 million more.
The final budgets will be written by Georgia’s next governor and the General Assembly. They will also have to plan around HB 463, a 2026 income tax cut that would eliminate one third of the state income tax if fully put in place. The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, which compiled the requests, estimated the cut would reduce revenue by $6.3 billion and argued the state needs more revenue to meet basic needs.
The budget office memo, meanwhile, credited Kemp with returning more than $13 billion to taxpayers since 2019.
