State officials overseeing mental health, child welfare and elderly services in Georgia at risk of deep budget reductions prompted by the coronavirus pandemic pressed lawmakers Wednesday to ease up on some spending cuts amid less dire tax revenue collections.
The requests from some agencies Wednesday marked what will likely be a push from officials across state government for slightly pulled-back cuts as the General Assembly reconvenes next week to pass the 2021 fiscal year budget.
State agencies were asked last month to hand in proposals for cutting their budgets by 14% totaling about $3.5 billion due to the coronavirus-prompted economic slowdown. Gov. Brian Kemp signaled last week agencies may only need to cut their budgets by 11% starting July 1 as state tax revenues are not declining as much as expected.
On Wednesday, the state public health commissioner, Dr. Kathleen Toomey, urged lawmakers on one of several committees looking at the budget to let her agency avoid forcing employees to take 12-day furloughs, adding about $1.5 million back to the budget for the Department of Public Health.
She also asked lawmakers to accept fewer cuts to critical grants that fund county boards of health as state and local health officials continue fighting coronavirus. The agency’s initial 14% reduction proposal called for trimming about $17.7 million from the grants.
“We really would like to lessen the impact on our county health departments that are working hard right now to support our work on [coronavirus] as well as other issues,” Toomey told lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations Human Development and Public Health Subcommittee.
Deep budget cuts totaling $172 million were drafted last month for a host of state mental health services for thousands of Georgia’s most vulnerable residents, which aim to help stave off crisis situations for mental health patients and treat substance-abuse issues.
The state’s mental health chief asked state lawmakers Wednesday to restore much of the funding to meet Kemp’s pared back 11% budget reductions rather than the 14% cuts originally requested. That would help save around $29 million and reduce the initially proposed 24 furlough days for staff to 12 days instead.
“I know you have difficult decisions ahead,” said Judy Fitzgerald, commissioner of the state Department of Behavioral Health and Development Disabilities. “The 3% really is going to make a big difference.”
Other agencies serving children and elderly populations are looking to avoid furloughs by trimming their budgets via some layoffs and leaving vacant positions unfilled.
Jobs for 33 staffers at the state Department of Human Services would be on the chopping block to avoid furloughs for other employees needed for hands-on senior and child-welfare services, said Commissioner Robyn Crittenden.
“Furloughs would make an already difficult job even more difficult,” Crittenden said.
Furloughs of between 12 and 18 days slated for child welfare workers at the state Division of Family and Children Services would not need to be as severe with the 11% budget cuts, Director Tom Rawlings said.
Rawlings also noted Wednesday his staff members have pivoted to working more remotely, which has caused his agency to see “more productivity in the last two months than I think we could have imagined back in February.”
He said discussions are already underway encouraging private and nonprofit groups to help bridge the funding gap for child welfare services in Georgia, which would be much more manageable with 11% cuts than 14% reductions.
“We have made these recommendations for restoration with the idea … that we can work with our providers to encourage the philanthropic community to step up to the plate,” Rawlings said.