Sobering reality of state budget cuts begins take hold

By Jim Tharpe

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Lawyers, guns and money

The Legislature had the week off for budget hearings, so there weren’t that many lawyers roaming around the state Capitol. But there was plenty of talk about guns and money.

Money

The message was clear and sobering. It became increasingly apparent that the state’s recession-battered economy will take its toll on the state programs that affect pretty much every taxpayer.

For educators, Gov. Sonny Perdue's final proposed budget cuts hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding to schools.

Under Perdue's plan,  k-12 schools will get less in state money during the upcoming year than they did when the governor began his second and final term in 2007.

Some school districts might have to raise property taxes to make up the difference in what the state is providing.

Georgia School Superintendent Kathy Cox told state budget writers Wednesday that Perdue’s proposed spending cuts endanger the progress public schools have made in recent years.

Speaking at a joint meeting of the House and Senate Budget committees, Cox said Perdue's proposals would mean $710 million less in basic school funding for Georgia schools over the next year and a half. She said her agency's office budget has been slashed dramatically in recent years, and she noted that Perdue's budget plan would wipe out regional education offices that work to improve teaching.

"The 2011 budget takes away our ability as a state to do anything to help our schools, " she told lawmakers.

Rep. Alan Powell (D-Hartwell) said about 35 school systems are at risk of running out of money.

Not a pretty picture for the arts

Georgia has long ranked near the bottom in terms of state funding of the arts, and the picture appears to be getting worse. Gov. Perdue’s proposed state budget for fiscal 2011 recommends funding of $890,735 for the Georgia Council for the Arts. This is down from $2.32 million this year and $4.18 million as recently as fiscal 2008.

The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies ranked Georgia 44th for legislative appropriations to arts in fiscal 2009.

In a letter to grantees last week, council executive director Susan S. Weiner wrote, “Given the budget recommendation, this means not a lot of money for grants. … We believe that now our primary goal is to stay alive, providing vital support through capacity building to the nonprofit arts industry and a return to viable financial support once the recession ends.” Weiner said the council

Guns

State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, a Republican running for governor, was busy explaining things mid-week after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution broke the story about Oxendine’s 13-year-old  son accidentally shooting a quail-hunting companion.

The victim,  59-year-old Russell M. Robertson, Jr., 59, of Chickamauga was peppered with birdshot and treated and released from the hospital after having 30 tiny pellets removed from his right leg. The commissioner described Russell as a long-time friend.

“I still believe in hunting, and I still believe in guns,” Oxendine said Wednesday. “I still will hunt and my family will still hunt.”

Tax-dodging lawmakers (the sequel).

The tax man's on the backs of some Georgia legislators, yet again.

State Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham has sent letters to an undisclosed number of House and Senate members, saying his agency has no record that the legislators have either filed a tax return or paid their taxes for 2008.

The filing deadline for 2008 taxes was Oct. 15.

The letter-holders have 30 days "to tell us why our records are wrong, " the commissioner said Wednesday. "We're not just giving them another 30 days to pay their taxes."

After the 30 days, the lawmakers' status is reported to the Ethics Committee in their chamber for possible action.

Last year, at least 19 House and Senate members received the letters. All of the senators and all but three House members were able to clear up the Revenue Department's concerns or paid their outstanding tax bills, plus penalties, legislative leaders said.

The House Ethics Committee still plans to have hearings on its three members and could recommend sanctions up to expulsion, said Rep. Joe Wilkinson (R-Sandy Springs), the committee's chairman.

Coming Next Week:

Lawmakers return Monday  for the regular legislative session and they get off to a fast start on one of the session big issues – ethics reform.

The House and Senate Ethics Committees will hold a joint meeting to gather information and hear from leading experts on ethics laws in Georgia. The meeting is slated for Monday at 1:30 p.m. in Room 506 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building.