The Georgia General Assembly reconvened this week after suspending activities for three months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Among other items, the General Assembly is expected to approve state appropriations for Fiscal Year 2021, which starts July 1. Once state appropriations are approved and signed by Gov. Brian Kemp, the University System of Georgia (USG) can begin to give further guidance to all 26 USG institutions on required spending reductions as well as workforce strategies, which include furloughs.

“I know that many are understandably anxious given the uncertainty of the budget situation. Information will be shared as soon as we can,” said Kelly Fox, executive vice president for Administration and Finance. “In developing our budget proposal, we focused on student academic progression and quality of instruction; self-funded sponsored research that supports Georgia Tech; and putting people first by protecting as much employment as we could.”

The original requirement was for all state agencies, including the USG, to plan for a 14% reduction in their state appropriations for Fiscal Year 2021. For Georgia Tech, this equates to a $46,832,153 reduction. In the original proposal submitted on May 15, operations, programs, and personnel are affected.

Fox added that the final reduction to state appropriations could change from this initial budget planning target. But other budget sensitivities — including revenue generated from fall and spring enrollment — will also influence Georgia Tech’s budget for the next fiscal year. “Clearly, this is a very fluid situation and our budget is dependent on many funding variables,” she said.

Updates will be provided as soon as a final and approved FY21 budget becomes available.