ATLANTA (March 1, 2011) – The Senate today unanimously approved Senate Bill 33 by Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth) moving Georgia’s state government to a system of zero-based budgeting.
“This bill will give the General Assembly valuable tools to identify and eliminate wasteful spending,” Shafer said. “It will help us be better stewards of the budget.”
Under Georgia’s current system of budgeting, expenditures approved in prior years are routinely rolled over into the next year’s budget under a single line-item identified only as “continuation.” Senate Bill 33 would require 1/4 of the state budget to be rebuilt from scratch each year so that the entire budget is justified over the four year term of a Governor.
In passing Senate Bill 33, the Senate unanimously approved a floor amendment offered by Shafer that he said was suggested by the Governor’s office and would ease the transition to zero based budgeting.
The Senate has approved zero based budgeting bills four times in the last eight years. Senate Bill 1 unanimously passed the Senate and House last year before being vetoed by Gov. Sonny Perdue. The Senate overrode Perdue’s veto at the beginning of the 2011 session, and Shafer introduced the new zero based budgeting bill after the House referred the veto override to committee.
Sen. David Shafer serves as Chairman of the Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee. He represents the 48th Senate District, which includes portions of Fulton and Gwinnett counties. He may be reached at 404.656.0048 or by e-mail at david.shafer@senate.ga.gov.
For Immediate Release:
March 1, 2011
For Information Contact:
Natalie Strong, Director
Thomas W. Krause, Manager of Communication Strategies
Tom.Krause@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028