Governor Brian Kemp wants to use a record state budget surplus to cut taxes.
The Republican governor proposed $1.6 billion in tax refunds Wednesday worth $250 for state income tax single filers and $500 for joint filers.
“We should continue to fund our priorities but also be good stewards of that taxpayer money,” Kemp told Georgia political and business leaders during the annual Eggs and Issues breakfast sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
Kemp said the record $3.7 billion budget surplus the state posted at the end of the last fiscal year in June resulted from Georgia’s ability to recover quickly from the recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. While some states shut down businesses during the pandemic’s early months, Kemp chose to keep Georgia’s economy open.
“We chose hope over fear, freedom over lockdowns,” he said. “As a result, our state led the nation in economic recovery.”
Kemp also announced plans to reverse the budget cuts to higher education the state imposed during the Great Recession of the late 2000s and early 2010s.
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