The Georgia Senate passed their amended budget last week, marking a customary milestone in the forty day session of the Georgia General Assembly.  As the yet to be passed annual budget sets spending for the fiscal year that begins July 1^st, it is customary for legislators to amend the budget passed last year for this current year to reflect unforeseen spending needs and/or create tax rebates in years of surpluses, or make spending cuts and adjustments if tax revenues are falling below projections.

State budgets begin with a spending plan submitted to the legislature by the Governor, which can be considered a “very strong suggestion”. Officially in the legislature’s eyes, the budget begins with the House under the supervision of Appropriations Chairman Matt Hatchett of Dublin. Once passed by that chamber, the Senate takes their turn with a plan demonstrating their priorities with stewardship from their Chairman Blake Tillery of Vidalia.

The details are then negotiated by a conference committee of both chambers with input by the Governor’s office. While officially a product of the legislature, conferees never forget that the Governor – even in his lame duck year – holds a line item veto pen.  

A big ticket addition from the Senate is getting a lot of attention, as it is large enough to change both the budget discussion as well as the state’s current and future spending priorities.

A capital outlay for a new state mental hospital was added in the Senate’s spending plan, at a cost of $409 million. The need for this hospital and the politics surrounding it will be the subject of a future column. If you can’t wait for that, ask a local law enforcement officer or medical first responder what they deal with almost every day and you’ll likely get a full throated preview.

Today, however, we’re using this major addition to highlight the politics and process of the budget and the legislature itself. Change is begetting change.

While his veto pen keeps the folks who understand power shifts from considering Governor Brian Kemp a lame duck, forces remain in play for a transition of power before a new Governor submits the next budget plan. Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones who presides over the Senate hopes to be the one drawing up that plan. 

Appropriations Chairman Tillery is one of four Senators elected for this legislative term who wish to move into the Lieutenant Governor’s office and wield his gavel, including Senators Steve Gooch of Dahlonega and Greg Dolezal of Cumming, as well as former Senator John Kennedy who resigned earlier this year to focus full time on his campaign. Kennedy and Gooch served as President Pro Tem and Majority Leader respectively but ceded those titles under GOP caucus rules to run for higher office.

Budgets must be balanced, and new spending means other priorities for new spending must be cut or eliminated. While keeping the Governor’s proposed income tax rebates up to $500 per household and the House’s added property tax rebates to homeowners, the Senate trimmed a proposed one-time bonus of $2,000 for state employees to $1,250.  

While it’s easy to draw some lines between the aspirations of those looking to higher office and the assertion of Senate priorities, it’s important to look at the Senate as a whole, including those who will qualify next week for the offices which they currently hold – and plan to keep for at least two more years.

The Senate, after all, is viewed as a “collaborative” body, as its constitutional structure and rules grant less autonomy to one leader as the House does to the Speaker, and instead disperses power among the members and the Lieutenant Governor. 

Senator Larry Walker III of Perry is the President Pro Tem, and is elected by Senators of both parties. As such, he represents the entirety of the Senate when he presides and is officially a bipartisan leader. 

Enacting a Republican agenda is the official responsibility of Senator Jason Anavitarte of Dallas. One should add that this responsibility includes the re-election of caucus members who help enact GOP policies.  

The other Senator with outsized responsibilities in a committee authorized structure is Senator Matt Brass of Newnan. Brass chairs the powerful Rules Committee, which determines which bills will see the floor for a vote, or die in committee. Senators often will rely on the Rules Chairman to flex institutional power when they want the House to take up a certain bill, or wish to hold a controversial bill until there is consensus on how best to proceed with a floor vote. 

Many will rightly be following those campaigning for higher office for both motivations and to measure success.  Key to understanding how this will work, however, is following the two elected this year to lead the chamber and the majority caucus, as well as the one Chairman who has been granted the authority by his peers to make, brake, or break a bill as the main gate keeper. 

The collaboration so far has held. The Senate passed their version of the amended budget 49-1, with the House then making the customary vote to disagree and move to conference. The variables at play are the level of spending for each line item, or if some of the big ticket items get moved to the next annual budget when new checks can be cut on July 1.