Will Georgia Republicans Oppose Funding for HBCUs, Again?

This week, President Biden announced his budget for Fiscal Year 2023, which would reduce the deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next decade, impose a new Billionaire Minimum Income Tax on the wealthiest Americans, advance safety and security at home and around the world, and make the investments needed to build a better America. The president’s budget also would provide a $752 million increase in funding for the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other institutions with a mission of educating students of color and those from low-income families, as well as $172 million for programs to increase the number of people from historically underrepresented communities working in science and engineering fields.

Meanwhile, Georgia Republicans unanimously voted against President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which provided over $260 million for eight HBCUs in Georgia. Spelman College in Atlanta was even able to clear recent graduates’ debt thanks to the historic relief package. Now, Georgia Republicans have begun to come out against increasing funding for Georgia’s HBCUs yet again. Instead, Republicans have embraced Senator Rick Scott’s GOP agenda to raise taxes on over 40% of Georgians and sunset Social Security and Medicare in five years.

“HBCUs are a quintessential part of Georgia’s education system, economy, and culture, and President Biden’s budget would ensure that they receive the funding they need to thrive. It would be inexcusable for Georgia Republicans to choose to stand with the GOP’s agenda of tax hikes and raised premiums rather than supporting the additional funding for HBCUs that President Biden is working to deliver,” Scott Hogan, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Georgia, said. “Unfortunately, as Georgians already saw when the GOP unanimously voted against the American Rescue Plan, Georgia Republicans will continue to stand in the way of investments for HBCUs just to be a rubber stamp for their party’s economic agenda, which would raise taxes on over 40% of working Georgians.” 

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