Appropriations subcommittee hears agency requests after Hurricane Helene; Ag, forestry and water projects top amended budget asks

The House Appropriations subcommittee on economic development heard a string of FY25 amended budget presentations Tuesday focused on hurricane recovery, agriculture emergency response and large water and infrastructure projects.

Commissioner Harper of the Georgia Department of Agriculture told the panel the department has been operating ‘‘practically 24/7’’ since the January outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza and the damage from Hurricane Helene. Harper said the department has so far approved 40 low‑interest loan applications through a state relief program and that private fundraising has produced about $1.8 million for producers. Harper said the department has received 322 applications for low‑interest loans totaling about $121.3 million in requests and that roughly $45 million of requests currently exceed available funding; he estimated another 250–260 applications could arrive, possibly adding roughly $100 million in additional need. Harper also told the committee the department will continue inspections and licensing for the new hemp law and is requesting roughly $37.4 million for improvements at the Atlanta Farmers Market and $425,000 to sustain the hemp program in the current amended budget.

Georgia Forestry Commission Director Johnny Sabo briefed the committee on the commission’s response to Hurricane Helene and the agency’s subsequent operational needs. Sabo said forestry crews cleared about 40,000 miles of roads in the storm’s aftermath and established 28,100 field plots to estimate timber damage; early cleanup cost estimates are roughly $5,600 per acre but remain preliminary. The commission requested capital funding to replace open‑cab tractors with environmental‑cab tractors in the most impacted region and asked for a new helicopter to strengthen aerial response. Sabo said the agency funded $22 million for a reforestation program and that initial applications for cleanup and reforestation far exceeded available funds.

Hunter Hill of the Georgia Environmental/Finance Authority (GEFA) described the governor’s proposal for coastal and statewide water infrastructure: a $501.7 million package focused on a new surface‑water intake and treatment capacity on the Savannah River to serve Effingham, Chatham and Bryan counties (including transmission lines and treatment expansions), and a separate $250 million Georgia Fund Infrastructure allocation to serve the remaining 156 counties. Hill said projects will be a mix of grants and low‑interest Georgia Fund loans and that the Savannah‑area package would allocate roughly $319 million for a new intake and plant in Effingham, $146 million for intake improvements in Savannah, and $36.7 million for transmission in Bryan. Hill said demand for water and wastewater funding statewide far exceeds available funds and that GEFA has more than $1 billion in project requests in its pipeline.

Christopher Nunn of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and GEFA representatives described two 1 Georgia Authority programs that the committee is being asked to fund in the amended budget: a $28 million request to extend the governor’s rural workforce housing initiative (22 awards have been made so far) and a $20 million request to continue a rural site development initiative to prepare community‑owned industrial sites by investing in public infrastructure such as water, sewer and roadway improvements.

Other presentations included Georgia National Fairgrounds and AgriCenter officials describing a $22 million state appropriation to build a new sheep and swine barn and a $900,000 FY26 request to continue youth program funding; Georgia World Congress Center and Savannah Convention Center leaders outlined capital needs (HVAC, plaza master planning, escalator and elevator modernization) and said the Savannah expansion will open this month; the Public Service Commission reported that Vogtle units 3 and 4 are now in commercial operation and requested a small one‑time FY25 true‑up to cover COLA timing for a subset of employees.

Committee members repeatedly pressed departments on timing: how quickly approved loan funds under the state’s low‑interest loan program could be disbursed so producers could make planting decisions and how agencies would prioritize desperately needed cleanup and mitigation work. Department and GEFA officials told the subcommittee they are meeting frequently and are positioned to roll out approved funding within weeks, but that available funding remains inadequate to meet current demand.

The hearing did not include votes. Agency leaders asked the subcommittee to consider the governor’s proposed additions in the amended FY25 budget and to prioritize resources tied to hurricane recovery, wildfire and biosecurity response, and water infrastructure capacity for coastal and rapidly growing regions.