A key Senate committee this morning cut $65 million for new school buses and technology from the mid-year budget, which covers spending through June 30.

The panel also slashed Gov. Sonny Perdue's proposal to increase funding for the financially struggling public defenders program from $3.7 million to $513,000.

The Senate Appropriations Committee stripped Perdue's education initiatives from the spending plan.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Hill (R-Reidsville), said the money saved can be used for projects next year.

"Maybe we want to put it toward austerity cuts," Hill said after the committee vote.

Perdue has recommended more than $140 million in "austerity cuts" for education in next year's budget, which begins in July.

House members are vowing to reduce that amount. Since taking office in 2003, Perdue has recommended, and lawmakers have approved, education cuts totalling about $1.5 billion. Democrats have hammered Republicans on the issue and GOP leaders in the House want to prevent Democrats from using the cuts as an election issue this fall.

The full Senate is expected to consider the mid-year plan, which overall adds $300 million to the existing $20.2 billion fiscal 2008 budget, later this week.

Perdue, the House and Senate agree on most items in the spending plan, which includes $40 million for reservoirs and $15 million to improve the state's troubled mental hospitals.

In addition, hospitals would get more than $50 million for trauma unit expenses. A sizable chunk of that will go to financially struggling Grady Memorial Hospital.

The committee's decision to slash public defender funding wasn't a surprise. Senate Judiciary Chairman Preston Smith (R-Rome), has long been critical of the amount of money being spent to defend Brian Nichols, who has yet to go to trial on charges that he murdered a Fulton County judge and three others in March 2005.

Smith said the public defenders system has enough money to do its job with the additional $513,000 the Senate would add in the mid-year budget.