ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue today proposed slashing Medicaid reimbursements and canceling the annual sales tax holiday for back to school shoppers to help cope with the continued freefall in state revenues.
In a Capitol news conference, Gov. Perdue said he decreased the current fiscal 2010 budget by $342 million but replaced state funds with federal stimulus money for fiscal 2011. That will mean $442 million hit to the budget year that begins July 1, he said.
“The January and February revenues were not what we hoped for,” said Gov. Perdue. “But Georgia will survive.”
Gov. Perdue also said he dropped the idea of a “bed tax” on hospital providers to help fund the state’s Medicaid program after strong opposition from hospitals.
Instead, Medicaid providers will face a 10.25 percent reduction in reimbursements, the governor said.
“I still believe the provider fees are the right policy for Georgia and our hospitals,” said Gov. Perdue. “Hospitals would have seen a net impact of just around $55 million under the fee, and this alternative is going to cost them $274 million.”
Gov. Perdue proposed several other measures to balance the budget, including an additional 3 percent cut to all state agencies except education, and removing other sales tax exemptions such as those to nonprofit hospitals.
“We're taking away a lot of things that were nice to do,” said Gov. Perdue. “What we're undergoing, just like all states in this nation, is really a government reset.”
See Friday’s Times Free Press for complete coverage.
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