ATLANTA — The Senate on Friday unanimously passed its own version of next year’s $21.2 billion budget. Now, negotiations can begin in conference committee with a week left until the session ends.
House members made it clear the most significant sticking point will be school funding, as it was with the $332 million midyear budget that was signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue last week.
The Senate replaced more than $56 million of the $141 million in cuts to the Quality Basic Education formula recommended by Gov. Perdue. The QBE formula provides money for all public school systems. The House’s budget included $90 million in restored cuts for fiscal year 2009, which begins July 1.
Senators couldn’t fund schools as much as the House did because the House didn’t follow Gov. Perdue’s recommendation to cut $245 million after he adjusted revenue estimates this month, said Appropriations Chairman Sen. Jack Hill, R-Reidsville. He said the House also made spending reductions that could threaten to close state prisons.
“We’ll work with the House to get the highest possible number for austerity cuts,” Sen. Hill said.
House leaders expressed outrage at the Senate’s proposed budget, especially because it doesn’t include $10 million to restore reductions in equalization grants to bring per-student funding in 16 metro Atlanta school districts in line with the state average.
That had been part of the negotiation on the midyear budget, which runs the state through June 30.
“We told them we had trust issues,” said House Speaker Glenn Richardson before appointing members to a joint conference committee that is expected to start negotiations this weekend. “This is causing the whole process to log jam.”
Rep. Tom Dickson, R-Cohutta, said he hoped the House would fight for its commitment to fund the QBE formula fully, even if the slowing economy prevents legislators from replacing the all of the cuts.
“Hopefully we can restore back up to the $90 million,” said Rep. Dickson, a former educator. “If we’re not able to, $57 million will help. I think cuts need to be wiped out completely.”
House members also criticized senators for adding $60 million in bond projects, which would put the state deeper in debt, and dipping into a reserve fund for health care for state employees.
One point both chambers agree on, though, is giving state employees a 2.5 percent cost of living increase, which Gov. Perdue recommended be cut to 2 percent because of lower revenue projections.
The slowing growth rate of Georgia’s economy has state officials expecting to use some of the nearly $1.6 billion reserve fund to pay for state programs in fiscal 2009.
“With the downturn in the economy, revenues not being what they’re expected to be, we did a good job finding money for raises and QBE,” said Sen. Don Thomas, R-Dalton. “Our constituents will probably be happy with what we did.”
The Senate budget includes $3 million in bonds for the development of Resaca Civil War Battlefield Park in northern Gordon County. That park has been waiting for state money to begin building a visitors center that officials want to have ready before the 150th commemoration of the Civil War beginning in 2011.
The Senate also restored $25,000 cut from the $50,000 budget of the state’s Civil War Commission, which is headed by John Culpepper, of Chickamauga.
ON THE WEB
H.B. 990: www.legis.ga.gov
