TIFTON — State level elected officials addressed business leaders in Tifton during the monthly Chamber of Commerce member lunch on May 17.

Representative Penny Houston, Senator Greg Kirk, Representative Clay Pirkle and Representative Sam Watson spoke to the attendees about the recent legislative session, which Houston said was a “great session for rural Georgia.”

“I’m telling you, Tifton and Tift County really came out well,” Houston said. “Y’all won the lottery.

Included in the state budget were $17.7 million for Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College to fund a new library and fine arts building and $900,000 for a haul-in facility in Tifton so farmers won’t have to take sick livestock to Auburn or Athens, according to Houston.

Houston also touted the Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation that will be housed at ABAC and was excited about funds that were included in the budget for a pet project of hers — $436,000 for a mobile audiology clinic to help children in rural areas who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

Kirk was particularly proud that the state’s income tax was lowered.

Pirkle added that while the income tax was lowered and many new projects are being funded, the legislature made sure that they are not “running up a bill or expanding the deficit.”

“The state of Georgia still ranks 49th out of 50 states in per capita state expenditures,” he said. “There’s not an awful lot of fat in our state budget. We’ve trimmed pretty close.”

He was particularly pleased with passing an adoption bill that limits the amount of time it takes to adopt a child in Georgia and that the state put a priority on funding education.

“Forty-five cents out of every dollar goes to K-12 education,” Pirkle said. “K-12 education is our first priority. Educating our kids is the absolute most important thing to do in this state.”

Watson said that this session was all about rural Georgia.

“When someone goes to talk about a bill, they know they have to put ‘rural’ in there somewhere,” he said.

He said that the legislature worked on making changes to the Georgia Agriculture Tax Exemption (GATE) program to give the program more “integrity and make sure it’s protected.” Additionally, he highlighted the new hands-free driving law aimed at decreasing distracted driving and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine locating a campus in South Georgia, which he said will bring better access to healthcare across the area.

Watson also touted the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act, which he said will be on the ballot in November.

The act will use a percentage of funds spent at stores that sell outdoor equipment to protect natural resources, wildlife, parks and the environment.

Follow Eve Copeland on Twitter @EveCopelandTTG.