The state Senate voted 51-0 Tuesday to approve a zero-based budgeting bill, its second run at the legislation since the House failed to back it up on a veto override earlier this year.

Both chambers passed a zero-based budgeting bill during the 2010 session, but Gov. Sonny Perdue vetoed it, saying he thought it would not be effective.

Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth, the bill's sponsor, brought it back to the floor for a veto override vote when the Senate came back into session. The Senate approved the override, but the House opted not to consider the measure. Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, said his chamber would submit a new bill to accomplish the task.

Zero-based budgeting would require each state agency to justify each line item in its budget at least once every four years. The state uses a system now in which the previous year's figures are carried over to the current year without a line-by-line accounting.

Shafer said Tuesday that he thought zero-based budgeting could help the state find wasteful spending. There is a similar bill in the House.

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The renovation of Jekyll Island's Great Dunes golf course includes nine holes designed by Walter Travis in the 1920s for the members of the Jekyll Island Club. Several holes that were part of the original layout where located along the beach and were bulldozed in the 1950s.(Photo by Austin Kaseman)

Credit: Photo by Austin Kaseman