Georgia State Senate Press Office: Rogers: Balancing the State Budget Begins

Press Release

ATLANTA, GA (Jan. 19, 2010) – The budget process began this week with Gov. Sonny Perdue (R-GA) presenting the 2010 Amended and 2011 General State budgets to the Georgia General Assembly. As an active leader of the Senate Appropriations Committee and one of three Senate Budget conferees, Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) is participating in the joint budget hearings at the Capitol this week.

“We must balance our budget just like Georgia families by reducing spending and finding more efficiencies. Raising taxes is a recipe for economic disaster that we’re witnessing at the federal level,” said Rogers. “Perhaps no other state is better poised for an economic recovery than Georgia. This is precisely because we didn’t follow the short-sighted advice of spending money we don’t have and raising taxes on Georgians during a deep recession.”

Rogers has been a champion for less spending and lower taxes. His leadership in the Senate has helped balanced the state budget, hold down spending, lower taxes, and has kept Georgians out of bonded state debt. Despite heavy budget cuts to reduce waste, the legislature also increased investments in those limited areas where state government has a fiscal responsibility – particularly education. During the 2009 Legislative Session, his leadership on the budget was noted by his appointment to the Appropriations Conferee Committee, where the House and Senate work out any differences in their proposals before going back to the governor for his signature.

The General Assembly Joint Appropriations Committee, which consists of 32 senators and 60 representatives, will hear from each department head the week of Jan. 19-22 as they present their budgets (schedule attached) in room 341 of the State Capitol Building. The week begins with the governor’s address, followed by an economic outlook for the state and the Georgia Department of Revenue as the first agency to present its budget.

For more information on the budget hearings, you can find the committee meeting schedule at http://webmail.legis.ga.gov/Calendar/?chamber=senate. You can also watch the proceedings live at http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/house/Committees/GLN/boardcastIndex.htm.
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Sen. Chip Rogers serves as Senate Majority Leader. He represents the 21st Senate District which includes portions of Cherokee and Cobb counties. He can be reached at his office at 404.463.1378 or by email at chip.rogers@senate.ga.gov

For Immediate Release:January 19, 2010

For Information Contact: Raegan Weber, Director
Raegan.weber@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028