ATLANTA --- As state lawmakers prepare for a session that could include cuts to the spending of every agency, those wielding the budget ax say they're doing their part to spread the pain around.
The budgets of the governor's office and the legislative branch are relatively small when compared with the $21.2 billion blueprint for the fiscal year that began July 1; the General Assembly's spending totals about $41.8 million, while the governor's office is set to get about $47.8 million.
But Gov. Sonny Perdue and legislative leaders say they will chip in, along with the state judiciary, to come up with the same three budget scenarios the governor asked agencies to develop.
"I think all three of those -- the judiciary, the legislative branch and the governor's office -- will all be participating in those 6-, 8- and 10-percent reductions," Mr. Perdue said Friday as he announced another set of dismal revenue numbers.
Secretary of the Senate Bob Ewing sent a memo to staffers asking them "to curtail all non-essential spending," including furniture, supplies and travel.
Mr. Ewing asked employees to keep an eye on the thermostat, turn off computers at end of the day and take other energy-saving steps. He also suggested carpooling to meetings held away from the state Capitol.
Marshall Guest, a spokesman for House Speaker Glenn Richardson, R-Hiram, said the House trie to trim its budget by cutting travel and delaying some spending.
Mr. Perdue's office points out that it already came in about 3.4 percent below its budget for last fiscal year.
"So, with just our normal eye on holding down expenses, we are more than halfway to the 6 percent number," spokesman Bert Brantley said in an e-mail.
The tax revenue figures released Friday, though, suggest even deeper cuts could be necessary. Again, lawmakers say they're ready.
"The House ... is prepared to make further cuts to the House spending plan if state revenues warrant such when the General Assembly convenes," Mr. Guest said.
Reach Brandon Larrabee at (678) 977-3709 or brandon.larrabee@morris.com.
SPENDING PLANS UP IN LEGISLATURE
As state agencies experienced growth in recent budgets, the General Assembly also saw its allotment increase.
The Senate's budget increased by almost 4.2 percent in the plan approved by the General Assembly in April, to $11.4 million. House spending grew by 4.5 percent to $19.9 million.
Lawmakers turned aside proposals from Gov. Sonny Perdue for a smaller increase as state revenues began to lag. They even tacked onto their original request an additional $75,000 for redistricting. In all, offices that support the House and Senate saw spending increases of 5.6 percent to almost $10.5 million.
Marshall Guest, a spokesman for House Speaker Glenn Richardson, R-Hiram, said the Legislature found other reductions to offset such growth. He said the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government ranked the Legislature 50th in the nation in per capita spending.
-- Morris News Service
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