Kemp says $3B budget boost will bring 'a lot of good things'

ATLANTA (AP) — Gov. Brian Kemp is pitching his plan to lawmakers to spend almost $3 billion more in the coming budget year, telling them “we've got a lot of good things to talk about this year.”

That list includes income tax rebates, pay raises for teachers, university employees and state employees, more funding for K-12 and higher education. State economist Jeffrey Dorfman forecasts the state can afford the spending because tax revenue is expected to continue growing after a potential flat patch later this year.

In a speech to legislative budget writers Tuesday, Kemp joked about “only being off $4 billion” on the state’s revenue estimate last year. The Republican governor sets that estimate, the legal limit on what lawmakers can spend. Both Kemp and lawmakers believed revenue would decline sharply during the pandemic, but federal aid not only propped up spending but fattened household savings, helping to boost tax receipts and pouring money into state coffers.

Now, months before he faces a competitive Republican primary and then Democrat Stacey Abrams as he seeks another term, Kemp wants to spend $30.2 billion in the year beginning July 1. The governor would push even more spending into the rest of the current year.

With $2.35 billion in spare cash even after filling the state's savings account to its legal limit of $4.3 billion, Kemp wants to give $1.6 billion in tax rebates in April — $250 to every single person filing state income taxes, $375 to every single person heading a household and $500 to married people filing jointly.

“I firmly believe that when government takes in more than it needs, it’s our responsibility to the taxpayers to return those funds to them, because it’s their money, not the government’s,” Kemp said “And these funds will do more good in the...