Nathan Deal in 2016 Governor's State of the State speeches


On Budget & Economy: Mandated spending is shrinking discretionary budget

Our mandatory entitlement spending continues to grow through no fault of our own. Although we have seen our revenue grow, we have also seen mandated expenditures grow in the areas of health care and education, taking up ever larger segments of our overall annual budgets. In fact, the discretionary portion of the budget, which is now roughly 17 percent, continues to shrink. Rising health care costs continue to be a major factor.
Source: 2016 State of the State speech to Georgia legislature Jan 13, 2016

On Education: Grants for technical skills training will help employment

We need to address the skills gap that our employers are encountering. With your support over the past three years, we have identified eleven areas where a student will receive a 100% tuition HOPE Grant to obtain that training. These Strategic Industries Workforce Development Grants cover 140 programs, and I am recommending that we add industrial maintenance this year to that important list. I am proposing to devote $17.1 million in 2017 for all of these programs.
Source: 2016 State of the State speech to Georgia legislature Jan 13, 2016

On Education: Facilitate young adults learning about computer science

In order to further modernize our K-12 education system, I asked the State Board of Education and the University System of Georgia to allow certain high school computer science courses to count as core courses in high school and for purposes of college admission. Both entities have agreed, and there are currently nine computer science courses that count towards requirement. This will give us more early learners in a field that is and will continue to be in high demand by employers.
Source: 2016 State of the State speech to Georgia legislature Jan 13, 2016

On Education: Public schools have discretion in how to spend funds

Over the past five years we have prioritized public education and we will do so again by appropriating an additional $300 million for K-12 education. We will distribute this money to your local school system under the existing QBE formula, but it is our intention that a 3% pay raise will be passed along to teachers. If that does not happen, it will make it more difficult next year for the state to grant local systems more flexibility in the expenditure of state education dollars.
Source: 2016 State of the State speech to Georgia legislature Jan 13, 2016

On Education: Schools should use testing sparingly but effectively

The federal government has given states greater latitude regarding testing of students and I call on our State Department of Education and local school systems to evaluate their testing requirements. If a test is not necessary to advance and tailor instruction, it should be eliminated. Tests that are duplicative and do not enhance educational achievement should be abolished. For example, we did away with the mandated graduation exam--enabling thousands of students to graduate.
Source: 2016 State of the State speech to Georgia legislature Jan 13, 2016

On Health Care: Medicaid expansion costs too much

The cost of Medicaid has grown from $2.6 billion in FY2013 to $3.1 billion in FY2017. Medicaid and PeachCare spending per Georgia family amounts to $1,258 per annum. When federal and other costs are added to this number, it is at least $4,365 each year. And that's without expansion. Had we elected to expand Medicaid, it would have required us to include approximately $209 million in this upcoming year's budget alone and that number would only continue to grow exponentially.
Source: 2016 State of the State speech to Georgia legislature Jan 13, 2016

On Health Care: Affordable Care Act is waste of money

To demonstrate our compliance with the mandates of the Affordable Care Act, we must devote $2.1 million in FY2017 budget just to turn in the paper work. When you combine the cost of federal dollars to that total, it is $4.4 million. In other words, this is just what it costs to tell the IRS that everyone in our State Health Benefit Plan and Medicaid program is covered. I can assure you that those funds could have been put to better use than on bureaucratic paperwork.
Source: 2016 State of the State speech to Georgia legislature Jan 13, 2016

The above quotations are from 2016 Governor's State of the State speeches.
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Page last updated: Dec 09, 2018