Board of Education Cuts Meeting Time

Talk is no longer cheap- The state Board of Education is condensing its monthly meeting from two days to one day.

The 13 board members are paid a $105 per diem rate plus any hotel expenses. A Georgia Department of Education spokesman says the cut will save up to $2,500 a month.

The Department of Education is expected to lose millions in state funding this year. They are one of many state departments and agencies hurt by the $2.6 billion budget loss.

(AP)

Ga. House Panel Approves Budget

The House Appropriations Committee has approved an $18.9 billion budget that funnels hundreds of millions of dollars in federal stimulus money into Medicaid and education.

The amended budget for the current fiscal year passed by a voice vote Wednesday. It cuts more than $2 billion in state spending to fill a deficit. The federal stimulus money coming from Washington is helping blunt some of those cuts.

The budget restores $1.3 million to the state Department of Revenue to keep it from having to furlough auditors.

State lawmakers say that with tax revenues plummeting the state needs the auditors more than ever to make sure that Georgians are paying their fair share.

The full House is set consider the budget Thursday. It still must pass the state Senate.

On The Net: H.B. 118: www.legis.ga.

(AP)

UGA Athletic Association Donates to Academic Branch

The University of Georgia Athletic Association is donating $6 million to the institution's academic side. The state cut the university's funding by 10 percent, or about $40 million, this fiscal year and could slash another 10 percent next fiscal year, which starts July 1. Adams says he plans to use the money to help keep top-notch faculty members by paying for travel to conferences and buying academic journals and books. The athletic association expects to make $77.6 million in revenue this year, ending the year $4.2 million in the black.

(Associated Press)

Muscogee Co.: School Budget Cuts Will Put Us In 'Dire Need'

The Muscogee County School District is scrambling for funding as they await the arrival of several thousand students of military families over the next two years.

School district officials say they’re going to ask the state legislature to exempt them from close to five and a half million dollars in planned cuts for the 2010 budget.

The US Army is closing down its Armor School at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and moving 30,000 troops and their families to Fort Benning near Columbus.

James Walker is Vice-Chairman for the Muscogee County School District. He says that move - part of the Army's international Base Relocation and Closure Program - will swamp their classrooms with over 4,000 new students:

"...and when you have that many children, we need school buildings; we need property, we need land to build the school's on; so the bottom line is that we need money to do all of this stuff. If we're going to be cut funds because the state doesn't provide a lot of money for building, we'll just be in dire need of money to get these things done, in order to accommodate the children that are coming."

Walker says the state's already cut close to four million dollars from their '09 budget.

But, the district is not taking any chances. They’re also turning to the Department of Defense, and federal and state departments of education to close the shortfall.

Right now there are 33,000 students in the Muscogee County School District.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of education issues statewide.

Lehman Collapse Felt from Wall St. to Peachtree St.

The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers could further hurt Georgia's woeful economy.

Emily Sanders heads Norcross based Sanders Financial Management, and she calls the collapse a "crisis."

Sanders says ”The structure of the financial system in the United States has been shaken to the core. And things won't go back to where they were previously.”

Sanders believes the collapse-along with the sale of Merrill Lynch and liquidity problems with AIG-could hurt Georgia because the state is heavily dependent on the real estate sector. Several reports show lending has dipped, and the news from Wall Street could keep credit and new loans from being issued, although that could change if the Fed lowers interest rates.

Recent revenue reports from the state show new car and home sales have fallen dramatically the past five months. Georgia state revenues are short some one hundred eighty million dollars this year. State officials are counting on an economic pick up to lighten coming budget cuts.

However, with credit and liquidity troubles associated with this collapse, Alan Essig says it’s “almost impossible” to see Georgia pulling out of the current economic downturn without larger cuts to services. He heads the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, and warns lawmakers that a special session is needed by the end of the month to address the growing fiscal problems.

Sanders warns even more job losses could come as major companies try to balance their budgets to compensate for losses related to the bankruptcy.

Georgia’s current unemployment rate of 6.2 percent is currently above the national average.

'09 budget stands in way of Session's end

A joint state House-Senate appropriations committee met briefly Sunday to hammer-out their differences in the 2009 fiscal budget.

Lawmakers recessed shortly after getting underway. They've agreed instead to let the various House and Senate sub-committees work out the differences in their respective '09 budgets. A 32-page document details those differences, which comes out to about 15-million dollars.

One example of the gap--the House has proposed 2.5 million dollars for the Department of Community Affairs. The Senate proposed 5 million.

Republican Jack Hill chairs the state Senate Appropriations Committee.

"It keeps the folks who are the experts in the department budget talking instead of those of us at the table, who deal with it at a different level".

Lawmakers say they hope to wrap-up the '09 budget before the regular session ends this Friday.

Meanwhile, Governor Sonny Perdue has said cuts will have to be made as a result of falling revenue for the state.

-from Valarie Edwards