Gov. Sonny Perdue grudgingly signed a $332 million midyear spending plan Friday that provides a boost to Grady Memorial Hospital and pumps more than $100 million more into schools.

He did so despite the fact that lawmakers ignored his plea to cut $65 million because of the slowing economy.

The governor used his line-item veto to cut $250,000 in "non-critical spending" earmarked for the North Central Law Enforcement Academy. He also vetoed language that could have put a limit on the number of children in the state's pre-kindergarten program.

"This is a budget that funds the critical needs of our growing state including trauma care, education and water reservoirs," Perdue said in a statement. "The good news is that it is virtually free of special-interest earmarks. However, a $65 million reduction in spending would have been a prudent first step in addressing the reality of our softening economy."

Perdue has said he will be forced to take money out of reserves if the state runs short at the end of the fiscal year.

Kenneth Heaghney, the state's fiscal economist, projects tax collections will fall $189 million short of the governor's original estimate for this year. Revenue collections have slowed in recent months. The state has $1.5 billion in reserves.

Perdue signed the budget the day after the House and Senate pulled a parliamentary maneuver to force him to act quickly. After approving the budget, they voted to "immediately transmit" the document. That triggered a constitutional provision that gave Perdue six days to sign or veto the bill.

Lawmakers did so because they wanted to make sure they had time to override any vetoes. Last year lawmakers were irate when Perdue waited until more than a month after the session to kill $130 million in spending they'd approved.

The midyear plan, which covers spending through June 30, includes $58.5 million for trauma health care. About $30 million of that likely will go to Grady. Another $40 million will go for reservoirs, which are considered a priority because of the drought. About half of the new money in the budget will be sent to schools, much of that to growing school districts in metro Atlanta.

House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin (R-Evans) said he was surprised Perdue made so few changes before signing the midyear spending plan.

"I think it's great news," Harbin said. "I'm glad the governor agreed with us and signed it without any major revisions."

Perdue's action leaves lawmakers free to spend the next few weeks hashing out a $21.2 billion budget for fiscal 2009, which begins July 1.

The governor is asking lawmakers to cut $245 million from the budget he recommended in January because of the sluggish economy. Heaghney is estimating that tax collections will fall nearly $400 million short of what Perdue projected when he set the revenue estimate in mid-January.