Perdue Pitches New Round of Cutbacks

By Shannon McCaffrey
Associated Press
Athens Banner-Herald
March 12, 2010

ATLANTA - Georgia's hospitals and health care providers were hammered as part of a new round of cuts proposed by Gov. Sonny Perdue on Thursday to deal with a gaping budget shortfall.

With state tax collections in freefall, Perdue is pushing to cancel the state's weeklong back-to-school sales tax holiday. Georgians also will face a host of new or increased fees totaling some $96 million as the state scrambles to balance its books.

Perdue told a state Capitol news conference that the state is undergoing "a government reset."
"We're taking a step back from a lot of things that were nice to do in good times," the Republican governor said.

The bad budget news has been expected since February's revenue numbers dipped for the 15th straight month. Perdue on Thursday lowered the revenue estimate for the fiscal year that begins in July by $443 million, effectively giving legislators fewer dollars to spend. The budget will drop from $18.2 billion to $17.7 billion.

The governor brought the current fiscal year's books out of the red by moving forward $342 million in federal stimulus dollars that he has intended to spend next year.

The new cuts rippled throughout state government. Many state agencies that already have endured round after round of reductions will be asked to slash another 3 percent from their spending. There are a few exceptions, such as elementary and secondary schools and the Department of Corrections, which won't be cut as much.

But hospitals, which had been protected so far from Medicaid cuts, were hit hard in Perdue's new blueprint.

To read the whole article: http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/031210/new_585569448.shtml

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, March 12, 2010

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