ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Georgia Democrats raised new concerns this week about Gov. Brian Kemp’s budget “disregards,” saying the administration froze spending lawmakers approved and that the cuts could hit some of the state’s most vulnerable residents first.

Kemp has said he is holding back new spending to help offset the cost of recently approved tax cuts. Budget officials have said the tax cuts created a $1.3 billion shortfall.

“We are talking about new spending. We aren’t making any cuts to or rolling back any parts of current programs,” Kemp said during his budget signing event Tuesday.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Gov. Kemp signs budget, freezes more than $300M in new spending

State Reps. Karen Lupton and Marvin Lim, both Democrats, said the pulled-back spending threatens services that victims and families rely on, including domestic violence shelters, sexual assault centers and child advocacy organizations.

“It absolutely feels like a slap in the face,” Lim said.

Lupton argued the decisions reflect state priorities.

“These people are the people that the Georgia GOP deems dispensable,” she said.

The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute said Kemp issued a combined 157 budget disregards and line-item vetoes, cutting more than $344 million from the 2027 fiscal year budget passed by the General Assembly.

The institute grouped the reductions by category as follows: Employees’ Retirement System ($100 million), health ($81.8 million), pre-K-12 education ($61.5 million), higher education ($26 million), public safety and corrections ($31.4 million), human services ($15.8 million), transportation ($11 million) and other areas of state government ($16.7 million).

Among the most significant examples the institute highlighted were healthcare items, including $48 million in new Medicaid reimbursement rate increases for providers ranging from primary care and dental care to psychiatric residential treatment. The institute also cited $4 million for a rural hospital solvency evaluation plan and $9 million in new funding tied to services for Georgians with intellectual and developmental disabilities, which it said reduced the number of new NOW/COMP waiver slots to 100.

In education, the institute said the governor’s actions included cutting $30.7 million for school transportation and bus operations, a veto of $12 million in bonds tied to school safety equipment grants, $2.7 million in one-time grants for vision and hearing screening equipment tied to the state’s literacy efforts, and $2.5 million in additional out-of-school care funding.

In human services, the institute pointed to $9.4 million for domestic violence shelters and $3.3 million for sexual assault centers, as well as $2 million to end the state’s participation in the SUN Bucks summer nutrition program.

The institute also cited $2 million for caregiver support services for Georgia seniors, $2.5 million intended to support unhoused veterans and $1.5 million for child welfare services tied to family reunification and youths exiting foster care.

Kemp said he decided to avoid leaving the next governor and lawmakers with a larger fiscal problem.

“I could have signed the budget, not made these cuts, but it would have been a mess for the next governor, the General Assembly next year after I’m gone,” Kemp said.

Even after the spending holds, budget officials still project a nearly $1 billion gap heading into Georgia’s amended budget process. Lawmakers are now watching what can be restored and how the next governor chooses to handle what remains.

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