The governor of Georgia, currently Nathan Deal, is the chief executive officer of a vast modern enterprise. The need for specialized expertise in governing and coordinating society means that Georgia's governor must work with a variety of other elected officials and appointed administrators. Article 5 of the Georgia Constitution, adopted in 1983, establishes an executive branch of government directed by a governor who serves a four-year term of office. The executive branch consists of more than 100,000 employees.
There are seven other popularly elected constitutional executive officers: the lieutenant governor, currently Casey Cagle, who presides over the senate; the secretary of state, currently Brian Kemp; the attorney general, currently Chris Carr; the state school superintendent, currently Richard Woods; and the commissioners of agriculture, insurance, and labor, each presiding over his or her own executive department. The current commissioners are Gary Black (agriculture), Ralph T. Hudgens (insurance), and Mark Butler (labor). In addition, the five-member elected Georgia Public Service Commission reports to the governor, and Article 4 of the constitution creates a variety of agencies, boards, and commissions, each with its own chairperson, some of whom are appointed.
The employees and elected officers of the executive branch provide many of the social services associated with the modern state. Three services dominate the executive branch's budget: education, public health programs, and transportation. The state school superintendent, for example, is responsible for distributing funds, more than $9.7 billion in 2014, to K-12 schools, pre-kindergarten programs, and the HOPE Scholarship. The Department of Community Health, Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, and the Department of Public Health, all members of the executive branch, promote health programs around the state, take precautions against infectious disease, and provide maternal and child health care. The Department of Transportation constructs and maintains the state's 117,238 miles of public roads and bridges. Finally, the Department of Natural Resources and the Georgia Department of Economic Development respectively seek to preserve Georgia's natural resources for recreational and economic use and to promote Georgia as a tourist attraction and investment opportunit
