Budget gamesmanship in play

ATLANTA --- Alan Essig has seen this show before.

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ZACH BOYDEN-HOLMES/FILE

Assistant Professor Vallire Hooper asked a question about budget cuts during a town hall meeting Tuesday at Medical College of Georgia. Faculty have been quick to react to proposed cuts.

Last week's drama over proposed cuts to Georgia's colleges, followed by public outcry and then legislators' calls to cut college presidents' salaries had a familiar ring, said Essig, who directs the independent think tank Georgia Budget and Policy Institute and has spent 20 years as a legislative aide or lobbyist.

"There definitely was a little Kabuki theater going on with the (Board of) Regents," he said. He likens it to the traditional Japanese drama because all the participants seem to be playing scripted parts.

The possible budget cuts listed are typical of the gamesmanship during budget battles in the legislature, political observers say.

Some years, the Department of Community Health has warned it would have to close mental hospitals in the districts of key legislators if it didn't get a fatter budget.

Veterans take it with a grain of salt. But with the state's finances in a billion-dollar hole, officials could be playing for keeps this year.

On Monday, the University System of Georgia released a list of possible cuts that the presidents of the state's 35 public colleges and universities could use if the legislature appropriates $300 million less than what Gov. Sonny Perdue recommends for next year's budget. Lawmakers had requested the list, telling Chancellor Erroll Davis to show how to balance a reduced budget without raising tuition or fees.

The list contained more than 4,000 layoffs, enrollment caps, shuttered satellite campuses and the elimination of dozens of degree programs at various locations.

The University of Georgia's entries were among the most visible. It would turn off its public-radio station, cut the 4-H youth program and dismiss half the county extension agents in the state. The Medical College of Georgia would cut its cancer center and toss its nurse-anesthetist students out, five months before they are due to graduate.

The list triggered student protests and outrage by faculty. Legislators reported getting one e-mail per minute from people angry about the 4-H program.

Perdue tried to calm the panic when talking to reporters Thursday.

"I have been very chagrined at some of the scare tactics and fear mongering that have gone on regarding our university system," he said.

Former House Speaker Terry Coleman, now the assistant commissioner of agriculture, has seen similar firestorms. It's common for agency heads to say their only option is to cut popular programs.

"The regional mental hospitals were always used as 'We'll throw the people out in the streets,' " said Coleman, who was the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee for more than a decade.

Legislators recognize the tactic and react predictably.

"Being a legislator, you resent that because it unduly riles up the families. It causes short-term damage," he said. "In many cases, it does backfire."

Advocates like for their supporters to become energized over funding issues, but they realize they also need to be careful, notes Mindy Binderman, the director of government affairs and advocacy with Voices for Georgia's Children.

For their part, legislators have a script putting Davis on the defensive for not proposing salary cuts for college presidents and deans.

Cuts to education and colleges tend to bring their constituencies to a boil faster than cuts to other parts of government. The current budget cuts thousands of lunches to the Meals on Wheels program, but because the recipients are shut-ins, they're unlikely to storm the Capitol as college students did Wednesday.

Mention of trimming the $6 million 4-H program drew far more howls than much larger actual cuts to the state's welfare agency.

Education supporters have more political infrastructure in that the students meet regularly in one place to spread information; there are clubs and parent groups with newsletters, phone lists and Web sites. And they can react quickly on weekdays when the legislature and news media are working full steam.

On the other hand, Binderman notes, stirring up passions about children's issues is harder because they can't drive themselves to protests or vote, and parents have trouble rallying for them.

"When you're dealing with parents of young kids, they usually are in a more precarious situation at the beginning of their careers, so it's not as easy for them to get a day off work," she said.

For lawmakers, the challenge is sorting through the protests, the agency heads' predictions of consequences from being underfunded. Complicating their task is knowledge that raising taxes enough to avoid the least popular budget cuts also comes with political costs.