Lawmakers passed the $17.8 billion dollar budget yesterday. It includes cuts and some new revenue sources.

It’s a lean budget for lean times. But the Department of Economic Development did get an extra 5 million to attract new jobs.

Also mental health services will get 42 million extra dollars due to a federal mandate. The budget uses up all of Georgia's federal stimulus dollars.

And fees on a lot of state licenses were raised especially in the court system says Senate Appropriations Chair Jack Hill.

“Frankly, I don’t think the average citizen will be affected by the fees. We didn’t touch drivers licenses, we didn’t touch hunting and fishing licenses,” Hill says.

“Unless you sue somebody, you probably won’t notice the increase in fees and your lawyer will tell you about that," he says.

The budget does restore funding to the Georgia Council For the Arts. Because education is the largest part of the state budget it also had the biggest cut of $600 million dollars.

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