\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThis story also appeared in Capitol Beat News Service\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWith the Georgia Bulldogs vying for their second straight college football championship on Monday night and Thursday\u2019s inauguration of Gov. Brian Kemp for a second term, there won\u2019t be a rush to get down to legislative business on the session\u2019s front end.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Since it\u2019s not an election year, lawmakers also won\u2019t be in a hurry on the back end to finish up under the Gold Dome and hit the campaign trail.<\/p>\n
But once the ceremonies have been dispensed with, new legislative leaders have been elected, and committee assignments are in place, the General Assembly will take up an agenda likely to include mental health, public safety, tax policy, education funding, electric vehicles, and the perennial debate over legalizing gambling.<\/p>\n
A highlight of last year\u2019s legislative session was a lengthy overhaul of the state\u2019s mental health-care delivery system championed by the late House Speaker David Ralston. The goal this year is to build on the success of that measure.<\/p>\n
Legislators are more likely to introduce smaller, individual bills this year to address problems with mental health services in the state, said Roland Behm, chairman of the board of the\u00a0Georgia Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Georgia Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission issued a report recently recommending the state set up a loan forgiveness and repayment program for mental and behavioral care professionals. To qualify, providers would need to accept Medicaid patients and practice for five years in areas where there is a shortage of mental health-care services.<\/p>\n
The commission also recommended increasing funding for inpatient psychiatric beds and other behavioral services and streamlining licensing requirements for mental health professionals.<\/p>\n
The legislature likely will consider a bill letting patients more easily access and obtain insurance coverage for the mental health-care services they need, Behm said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also likely lawmakers will consider increasing the number of home- and community-based slots serving\u00a0people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as a state Senate study committee recommended last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Public safety agenda<\/h3>\n
Kemp, too, is looking to build on his first-term success in the public safety arena. At the height of campaign season last October, the governor unveiled a second-term platform that calls for increasing penalties for gang members who recruit minors.<\/p>\n
Taking aim at criminal justice system reforms that include the granting of no-cash bail, Kemp also wants to require judges to consider a defendant\u2019s criminal history when issuing \u201cown-recognizance\u201d bonds.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough we\u2019ve made significant progress putting dangerous criminals behind bars and making our communities safer, we still have work left to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Along with public safety, Kemp also built his successful reelection campaign around cutting taxes. He backed two bills last year that provided a $1.1 billion tax refund, which quickly appeared in checks to Georgia taxpayers, and a longer-term measure that will reduce state income tax rates starting next year.<\/p>\n
This year, the governor is calling for another $2 billion in tax relief, a $1 billion income tax rebate and a $1 billion property tax rebate.<\/p>\n
Sitting atop a $6.6 billion budget surplus, the state can easily afford the additional tax cuts.<\/p>\n
But with economic forecasters predicting a recession later this year, soaring tax revenues aren\u2019t likely to last, said Kyle Wingfield, president and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody expects revenues will come back to Earth at some point,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Wingfield said one-time tax rebates are attractive at a time inflation is running high. But he sees accelerating the reduction of income tax rates to the current tax year as a better approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you take the same amount of money and cut rates for the future, you\u2019re giving people an incentive to work harder, save more and invest more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Education funding<\/h3>\n
The General Assembly also is expected to consider overhauling the state\u2019s education funding formula to provide additional support for children living in poverty, higher student transportation costs, and the need to fund school support staff.\u00a0The Quality Basic Education (QBE) formula was adopted back in the mid-1980s.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019ve spoken with leaders in both political parties, and [changing the funding formula] seems to be an area of interest,\u201d said Matt Smith, director of policy and research for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, a nonprofit affiliated with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n
\u00a0A proposal to decrease the student-to-school counselor ratio also has the support of both Kemp and the state Department of Education.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n