A day after the Georgia House reaffirmed its midyear budget; the State Senate has released its own version. The Senate’s budget is lean, and puts $20 million aside for a rainy-day fund.
But the dispute impacts politics more than programs. The House would spend millions now on tourism, patrol cars, and other things the Senate deems “non-essential.” Senators aren’t saying no to these items, but they would rather pay for them in the fiscal year that starts in July.
“It’s a big deal for taxpayers,” says Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah). “We should avoid using the supplemental budget for unnecessary things. It ought to be for what we need to do and not what we want to do.”
The Senate is playing a shell game, according to House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s spokeswoman, Clelia Davis.
But the dispute impacts politics more than programs. The House would spend millions now on tourism, patrol cars, and other things the Senate deems “non-essential.” Senators aren’t saying no to these items, but they would rather pay for them in the fiscal year that starts in July.
“It’s a big deal for taxpayers,” says Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah). “We should avoid using the supplemental budget for unnecessary things. It ought to be for what we need to do and not what we want to do.”
The Senate is playing a shell game, according to House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s spokeswoman, Clelia Davis.
In a statement, Davis asks, “How does shifting the same amount of spending by 4 months make the Senate conservative and the House not conservative?”
Both chambers have to approve the same budget before the governor can sign it into law.
