Domestic violence and sexual-assault centers across Georgia are rushing to plug sudden budget holes after Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed millions in new spending that lawmakers had already signed off on, advocates say. Program directors warn the cuts could mean fewer beds, thinner 24/7 crisis-line staffing and slower help for survivors, right as demand stays high and deadly incidents keep mounting.
State advocates told CBS News Atlanta that more than 100 Georgians lost their lives to domestic violence in 2025 and say the veto puts even more people at risk. Lawmakers had approved about $13 million in fresh money for domestic-violence, sexual-assault and child-advocacy programs this spring, according to the House and Senate budget documents.
What shelters say
At the Haven in Valdosta, Executive Director Michelle Girtman says the shelter’s roughly two dozen beds are already full on a regular basis and that the loss of state money could leave them about $300,000 short, she told the Georgia Recorder. That kind of gap for a single program is not exactly a rounding error.
Jan Christiansen, who heads the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, says nearly all programs statewide are scrambling to cover basic operating costs and warns that staff burnout could force cutbacks in services. Advocates say the math is bleak: fewer dollars in the door means fewer people on the clock when someone calls for help.
State data shows strain
The Georgia Commission on Family Violence’s 2025 fact sheet lists 159 domestic-violence fatalities and more than 110,000 crisis calls in 2024, along with a 12 percent jump in reported family-violence incidents from 2023 to 2024. Advocates argue those numbers are exactly why lawmakers pushed so hard for the extra state funding in the first place.
Why the money was pulled
Kemp has defended putting the brakes on next year’s add-ons as a way to patch a roughly $1.3 billion shortfall that he says was created by an income-tax package. His budget signing statement froze more than $300 million in new spending, WRDW reported.
Supporters of the freeze say core government programs remain funded. Democratic lawmakers and survivor advocates counter that the so-called extras were not luxuries at all but hard-fought priorities needed to keep domestic-violence shelters and sexual-assault centers open and staffed.
What’s next
With the new fiscal year beginning July 1, shelter directors say they are scrambling for emergency grants and private donations to fill the gaps while lawmakers debate possible fixes. Backers of the funding, including legislators who helped negotiate the budget additions, have publicly urged restoration and told the Georgia Recorder that any dollars lost will show up quickly as fewer beds and fewer advocates on duty.
Advocates warn survivors and front-line staff are likely to feel the impact almost immediately if replacement funding does not materialize, and statewide groups say they plan to keep pressing both the governor’s office and the General Assembly until a solution lands.
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