CAPITOL BEAT: 5 stories to know from last week at the General Assembly

ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation Wednesday providing Georgia taxpayers a $1.1 billion tax refund.

The one-time windfall for taxpayers is the result of unexpectedly strong state tax collections that have left Georgia with a flush budget surplus.

ATLANTA — Last year, Republicans pushing an election reform bill through the General Assembly argued they were restoring public trust in elections following allegations of voter fraud in Georgia in 2020.

Democrats charged the 2021 legislation amounted to voter suppression by Republicans determined to reverse Democratic gains, particularly the capture of the Peach State’s two U.S. Senate seats.

ATLANTA – The Georgia Senate unanimously approved a fiscal 2023 state budget Friday that provides raises to teachers and state employees and restores state agencies to pre-pandemic spending levels.

The $30.2 billion spending plan, which the Georgia House of Representatives passed two weeks ago, annualizes $5,000 raises most state workers received in the fiscal 2022 mid-year budget Gov. Brian Kemp signed last week.

ATLANTA – Georgia’s economy not only has recovered from pre-pandemic levels but has expanded past numbers reported just before the coronavirus pandemic struck the Peach State two years ago.

The number of employed Georgians last month was up 75,000 compared to before the pandemic to an all-time high of nearly 5.1 million, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. The state’s labor force has increased by 50,000 over the pre-pandemic level, and the number of unemployed has declined by 25,000.

ATLANTA – Georgia senators are digging in their heels when it comes to how the state’s medical marijuana program should be operated.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday essentially scrapped legislation the Georgia House of Representatives passed last week aimed at breaking a logjam that has sidetracked the program. Instead, the panel approved the same version the full Senate passed last week.