Legislature Focuses on Budgeting

Sen. Lee Hawkins

By Sen. Lee Hawkins
ATLANTA (Feb. 19, 2010) – The Senate and House have passed the Fiscal Year 2010 Amended budget, which outlines our spending plan until July 1.  We have only $15.5 billion to spend over the next six months, which is $4.6 billion less than we had in 2009.  These sobering numbers reveal the dire budget crisis our state is in as revenues continue to fall.  The numbers for FY11 look even worse, and we want to ensure that every taxpayer dollar is spent as efficiently as possible.  In order to produce a fiscally responsible budget, the legislature has decided to recess for two weeks to give lawmakers and budget writers time to analyze where efficiencies can be found while protecting core areas of government like education and public safety. 

The FY10 Amended budget includes $1.2 billion in cuts.  Our budget make-up consists of 57% education (K-12 and universities combined), 15% health services, 6% Department of Corrections, 3% for human services (DFCS, Foster Care, Adoption Assistance), and 11% for all other agencies.  In order to fulfill our constitutional obligation of passing a balanced budget, we have to look at cutting everything.  Our most important goal is to strike a balance between fiscally responsible spending and cultivating the right environment for business growth so people can get back to work.

When half of our budget goes to education spending, we must ensure that every dollar is spent wisely.  Sadly, the downturn in revenues has affected teachers through cuts and furloughs.  In order to mitigate the impact of these cuts, I’m introducing legislation to save teachers and school systems valuable money and time.  The bill will place a moratorium on the number of continuing education credits teachers need to renew their teaching certificates.  During these hard economic times, teachers will be required to obtain fewer Professional Learning Unit (PLU) credits.  Some school systems pay for these continuing education courses, while many teachers shoulder the cost by spending money out of their own pocket.  This bill will save them the cost of the course, plus other expenses like paying for a babysitter to watch their kids while they’re in class, or valuable time spent sitting in traffic while driving to attend a course.  I’ve been working with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission on perfecting this legislation, and look forward to introducing a measure soon.  While working on the budget, it’s also important to get this bill in motion.  If it receives final passage and is signed by the governor it’ll go into affect July 1, the same time we begin our new fiscal year on what will most likely be a very tight budget.  Every single cost-saving tool needs to be found and implemented in preparation for that time. 

When we’re cutting teachers’ salaries to make up for a revenue shortfall, its incumbent upon us to ensure we’re collecting the revenue streams we should be.  Missing sales tax collections have made headlines recently, reporting that State Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham has said as much as 5 % of sales tax collections could be missing.  Under my Senate Bill 431, cities and counties can electronically submit information to the Department of Revenue (DOR) on their local businesses that pay an occupation tax.  This allows us to better monitor collections and ensure we’re getting the full benefit of these revenues.  Perfecting the sales tax system could mean a return of hundreds of millions of dollars, money that could be used to pay for teachers’ salaries and our children’s education. 

While the budget is our top challenge, our top priority must be job creation and economic growth for Georgia.  The best way to turn Georgia’s economy around is to create an environment that encourages business expansion and job growth.  Broadband Internet access is the economic, social and public safety lifeline of the future, and its growth throughout our state is crucial to Georgia’s economic development.  A recent study indicates that by 2020, the majority of Americans will access the Internet through a mobile device, making mobile connectivity essential for millions of Georgians and providing the opportunity for additional job growth throughout the state.  I’m sponsoring the Advanced Broadband Collocation Preference Act (SB 432) to streamline the process for modifying wireless facilities to support broadband growth.  This bill will standardize a statewide process that will result in quicker deployment of wireless service.  The legislation is the product of months of discussions among stakeholders and represents a consensus among the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, the Georgia Municipal Association and representatives of Georgia’s wireless industry.   

I look forward to working with my colleagues to produce a fiscally responsible budget that consists of less spending and lower taxes, while providing business growth incentives and finding government efficiencies to spur economic development.

Sen. Lee Hawkins serves as the chairman of the State and Local Governmental Operations Committee. He represents the 49th Senate District, which includes Hall County and portions of Jackson County.  He may be reached at 404.656.6578 or via e-mail at lee.hawkins@senate.ga.gov.

COLUMN
For Immediate Release:
February 19, 2010
For Information Contact:
Raegan Weber, Director
Kallarin Richards, Senior Communications Specialist
kallarin.richards@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028