Sonny Scissorhands

[marmar]

State agencies to cut 25% in June
By Aaron Gould Sheinin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Friday, May 29, 2009


Gov. Sonny Perdue on Thursday said state revenues for the almost-ended fiscal year have continued to decline and that state agencies will lose a quarter of their June funding.

Perdue, in a letter to top state lawmakers, said he is being forced to lower the state revenue estimate by more than $274 million for the 2009 fiscal year that ends June 30. That is a 1.45 percent drop in the 2009 budget state lawmakers approved earlier this year.

The state’s grade schools and high schools won’t be affected by the cuts, Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said. Perdue plans to use federal stimulus money to replace cuts in state funding for k-12 education, as well as for some public safety functions.

This cut comes on top of more than $2 billion in spending reductions for fiscal 2009. Perdue had to make the move to avoid further emptying already depleted state reserves at the end of the fiscal year to pay bills. State revenues have been in a steady decline, with April’s tax collections down by more than 20 percent from April 2008, the fifth straight month of year-to-year decreases.

Still, Brantley said as agencies absorb this latest cut it will put them in line with expected 2010 spending. The state budget that begins July 1 is set for $18.59 billion, or about $60 million less than the current budget after these latest cuts. Absorbing the June reductions should help agencies prepare for the 2010 budget, Brantley said. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2009/05/29/revenue_georgia_budget.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab