Governor Sonny Perdue says he is prepared to summon lawmakers to a special session next week to settle a budget dispute. The divided Legislature ended one of its longest-running sessions yesterday unable to overcome Perdue's Thursday night veto of the midyear spending plan, which included a one-time $142 million dollar tax break to Georgia homeowners.
The plan also contained badly needed cash to bail out the PeachCare health insurance program for poor children and to pay for public defenders, but Perdue argued it failed to fund other critical needs.
On Friday the House voted 163-to-5 to override the veto, but Senate leaders refused to follow suit by claiming the move was unconstitutional. The two chambers managed to approve a late agreement on the larger $20.2 billion dollar budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1st. Yet the stalemate over the $700 million dollar plan that funds state operations for the rest of the fiscal year ultimately threw the chamber into a special session.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson said he was irritated at the governor's call for lawmakers to return to Atlanta. He said, "This is a sad day for Georgia. Apparently hunting season is over and he's got time to hang out at the state Capitol."
Perdue said late yesterday he would announce the special session's dates next week.
The plan also contained badly needed cash to bail out the PeachCare health insurance program for poor children and to pay for public defenders, but Perdue argued it failed to fund other critical needs.
On Friday the House voted 163-to-5 to override the veto, but Senate leaders refused to follow suit by claiming the move was unconstitutional. The two chambers managed to approve a late agreement on the larger $20.2 billion dollar budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1st. Yet the stalemate over the $700 million dollar plan that funds state operations for the rest of the fiscal year ultimately threw the chamber into a special session.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson said he was irritated at the governor's call for lawmakers to return to Atlanta. He said, "This is a sad day for Georgia. Apparently hunting season is over and he's got time to hang out at the state Capitol."
Perdue said late yesterday he would announce the special session's dates next week.
