ATLANTA --- Millions in extra money for local school systems and the Medical College of Georgia expansion are part of a $21.2 billion spending plan that sailed through the House on Thursday.
The budget for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, passed the chamber on a 166-1 vote and includes $100.7 million to eliminate cuts in education programs proposed by Gov. Sonny Perdue.
That was $51 million less than what the House had initially wanted to set aside to help restore cuts that began during 2002-03 as the state weathered the last economic recession. With the economy slowing again, Mr. Perdue's decision earlier this month to cut his revenue estimate for how much lawmakers would be allowed to allocate forced budget-writers to scale back their plans, said House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin, R-Evans.
He said the Senate had also voiced support for replacing some of the $141 million in the so-called austerity cuts to school systems during the lean years.
Austerity cuts to schools in Burke, Columbia, McDuffie and Richmond counties would total more than $5.4 million in the coming fiscal year. It's not immediately clear how much the districts would benefit from the House's new proposal.
The House also included $7.2 million Mr. Perdue had requested for the proposed expansion of the Medical College of Georgia. The chamber set aside $60 million in bond financing for a new School of Dentistry in Augusta, down from $70 million, but also set aside $5 million in design funding for a proposed medical commons facility.
Other local projects were also included in the House plan, from $100,000 more for the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame to $100,000 to restore the Powder Works Chimney.
The House also softened Mr. Perdue's proposed cut to Fort Discovery and the National Science Center from $1.4 million to a little more than $900,000, but warned the center to become self-sufficient by the 2009-10 budget year.

