Deja vu: Transportation funding may be dead in '09

Two days left to go in the 2009 legislative session and the General Assembly remains at odds over how to fund transportation improvements both in the rural and metro areas of the state. And, with the hours winding down to sine die 2009, it appears a solution to transportation gridlock may not be possible.

The House wants a statewide transportation funding mechanism. The Senate wants a regional approach.

But as time runs out, the opportunity for compromise may soon be lost.

Senator Jeff Mullis chairs the Senate Transportation Committee.

"If we want to pass something out of the General Assembly this year, the House has got to agree with where the Senate is. It's the only way we get something. Tomorrow is the last day that we have a chance to do anything. The 40th day, that is just no way to pass a major bill. You saw what happened last year, it'll be the same scenario."

What happened last year was a transportation funding bill died minutes before midnight when the senate fell three votes short of a consensus.

Late last week, a House Transportation Committee appeared to reach a compromise on funding when it agreed to let voters decide. If voters said no to a statewide tax, neighboring communities could choose a regional Plan.

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.

Cagle: Expect a 'Painful Session' Over Recession

Show us the money.

That'll be the refrain when Georgia's Legislature returns to Atlanta on Monday and lawmakers will grapple with a massive budget shortfall that will color nearly every decision that's made under the Gold Dome.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has already ordered most state agencies to slash their budgets by 8 percent. State workers have been furloughed. Fees at public colleges are rising. Health benefits for the poor are being scaled back.

And the cuts could go deeper if the economy continues to worsen. Tumbling state revenues have ripped a deficit in the budget that's expected to top $2 billion for the current fiscal year. It comes as the recession pumps up the demand for government services like Medicaid, food stamps and unemployment benefits.

At the same time, Georgia is wrestling with vexing - and costly - infrastructure needs to keep up with booming growth in metro Atlanta. Roadways are clogged with traffic. Additional reservoirs are needed to quench the region's fast-growing thirst.

"It's going to be a painful session," predicted Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.

Tax increases to fill the budget gap appear to be off the table. Republican legislative leaders have been cool to proposals that would slap new levies on strip club patrons, cigarettes or groceries.

Instead, they're talking about capping the rate at which home assessments can rise, a move that would hobble the ability of cash-strapped local governments to raise revenue.

Conservative Republicans cast the budget woes as an opportunity to "right-size" state government and get back to basics.

"It gives us the chance to really prioritize and figure out what government is here for," said Kelly McCutchen, vice president of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, an Atlanta-based conservative think tank.

The first salvo in the budget battle will come Wednesday when Perdue unveils his spending plan. He's pledged to include an aggressive bond package to kick start the state's economy by borrowing to fund road projects and school construction.

Legislators will be able to tinker with how the money is spent. But they won't be able to change the overall amount the state may spend. The governor has the sole authority to set that figure and the state is constitutionally prohibited from running a deficit.

The latest news from state money managers was bleak. On Friday, they reported that tax collections plunged 8.9 percent for December from the same month the year before. For the fiscal year that began July 1 revenues slumped by 2.7 percent, dragged down by sluggish sales and income taxes.

Already, advocates are jockeying to shield their pet issues.

"We are extremely concerned about how these budget cuts will affect Georgia's children," said Pat Willis, executive director of Voices for Georgia's Children.

David Blanchard, who lobbies for Georgians with developmental disabilities, summed it up this way: "We're bracing for the worst."

"The state is not meeting the needs (of the developmentally disabled) today. The idea that we would go backward really does make so many people nervous," Blanchard said.

The focus on the budget meltdown is likely to mean other legislation will take a back seat this session.

"I think everyone is so focused on the budget, that I really don't expect this to be a banner year for new legislation," said state Sen. Cecil Staton, a Macon Republican. "I don't hear a lot of people talking about lots of new bills."

Of course, there will be some exceptions.

A plan to fund transportation improvements could move quickly this session after falling just short of the needed votes last year. The plan would likely allow local governments to band together to assess a one-cent sales tax to fund road improvements.

School vouchers could also emerge as a politically charged brawl. State Sen. Eric Johnson, a Savannah Republican, has said he wants to give parents in failing school districts more options.

But the top Democrat in the state Senate predicted "the nuclear fight over universal vouchers will be more explosive than the Republican budget crisis."

"After years of deliberate underfunding, Republicans have severely weakened our public schools," said state Sen. Robert Brown, of Macon. "Now, they are aiming to drive a stake in the heart of our children's future with universal vouchers."

But for the most part, it will be a session focused on the state's pocketbook.

"It's going to be a legislative session of making cuts where it hurts the least," said state Sen. Don Thomas, a Dalton Republican.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the Georgia Legislature.

(AP)

Moving Georgians: a look ahead

Georgians will be able to tell state officials what they want in public transportation next week. The plan's dubbed the Investing in Tomorrow’s Transportation Today initiative (IT3).

Officials say they want to hear what Georgians want in public transportation. They say they'll use that input to set strategic policies, and create a business model for the future.

The public is invited to a week-long series of meetings starting September 22. They'll be held in Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Dalton, Macon, Savannah and Valdosta.

Officials on-hand for the series of public forums will include DOT commissioner Gena Abraham, department board members, and local officials to the particular area.

Ericka Davis of the Department of Transportation says the forums will be one-stop shopping for residents to give their opinions:

"That’s an opportunity for them to be in one spot and the key decision-makers on the transportation plan for Georgia will be right there listening to what they have to say."

The legislature failed to pass a transportation plan this past session. That was after a group of legislators held similar hearings around the state last year.

Lawmakers are expected to try again come January.

More information is available at http://www.it3.ga.gov.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of state transportation and infrastructure issues.

Bill to weigh kids passes Senate

The State Senate passed a bill today that would require public schools to take the Body Mass Index of each student and compete with other schools for the lowest average score. It's meant to improve the health of children, but oponents argues it's too much government intrusion.

The bill's sponsor Republican Joseph Carter argued that 1 in 3 kids in Georgia is either obese or at risk of becoming obese. He hopes to improve the situation with an online competition. Each school's collective Body Mass Index would be posted on a Department of Education website. It also calls for the governor to establish a recognition program. Republican Seantor Preston Smith of Rome says that leaves too much room for bullying because schools eyeing state funds could put pressure on heavier kids.

Smith says it should be parents, not government's, role to keep children healthy. Each child's BMI would be kept private by the school and released to parents upon request. The measure now goes to the state House for consideration.

Ft. Benning going whole hog over feral pigs

Maj. Bobby Toon posing in October 2007 with a feral pig he killed at Fort Benning. (AP Photo/Fort Benning)

Maj. Bobby Toon is known as the Pig Czar at the huge army post on Georgia's western edge.

He has been assigned to help rid Fort Benning of its unwanted guests: an estimated 6,000 feral pigs that roam the 184,000-acre installation.

The animals, common throughout Georgia, are known for tearing up woodlands and farms. They are aggressive foragers, gobbling up native vegetation and endangered species.

"These pigs feed and breed," Toon said. "That's all they care about. I've been here off and on for 17 years, and I can never remember a pig population as big as it is now."

Since July, more than 900 pigs have been killed.

"These animals can smell a turkey egg three miles away," Toon said. "They're also a danger to tortoises and woodpeckers."

The former 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment company commander, who now instructs a course at the Maneuver Captains Career Course, has personally brought down 68 pigs in the past year.

He's not the only pig hunter at work.

About 2,000 people who are authorized to hunt on the post have been encouraged to go after the feral pigs. They must be active-duty, retired military or civilian workers at Benning and must have a license from the base.

The post is offering a $40 bounty for every pig tail that's brought in.

"We did a cost estimate with civilian contractors, but they wanted way too much money for the job," Toon said.

(The Associated Press)

Click here for more GPB News coverage about Ft. Benning.

State water plan may get full Legislature approval today

Georgia's first-ever statewide water plan has sailed through committees in the House and Senate this week. Today the proposal could get the vote before the full Legislature. If the 'yes' vote comes and gets the sign-off by Governor Sonny Perdue, the plan goes into action.

The plan would launch the effort to detail just how much water is in the state's rivers, lakes and streams. A three-year plan costing more than 30-million dollars would get a funding kickoff suggested by Perdue of just-over 11-million dollars in the first year. 11 planning districts would then work to decide how to divide the state's water resources.

State Senate Passes Gun Bill

The State Senate passed a watered down version of HB 89, a contoversial gun bill that would allow licensed gun owners to keep their weapons in their car at work, if the employer gives the O.K..

The National Rifle Association did not want to require employer permission, but Georgia's business community lobied hard for the change.

As the bill stands now, some are worried that the measure doesn't go far enough to protect the rights of businesses located on rental property. Lawmakers who opposed the bill, say it tramples on the rights of business operators who rent from property owners.

State Senator David Adelman, a Democrat from Atlanta, spent nearly 30 minutes defending his amendment to the proposed bill that would let business renters decide whether to allow guns on the premises not the property owner.

Adelman says his bill is about the safety of customers and employees. "If Georgia business owners want to prohibit firearms where they do business, they should be permitted to do so," says Adelman, even if the property owner says guns are allowed.

Adelman's amendment, however, was defeated. Because of the changes, the bill now goes back to the House for consideration.