Perdue makes budget official

ATLANTA --- Gov. Sonny Perdue signed the midyear state budget into law Friday despite concerns that it doesn't cut spending enough to deal with the slowing economy.

Mr. Perdue wanted to slash $65 million from the spending plan, which covers the fiscal year that ends June 30. The House and Senate declined to go along, and Mr. Perdue decided not to pick a fight with fellow Republicans.

Mr. Perdue used his line-item veto power to strike just $250,000 in state funding for the North Central Law Enforcement Academy. He explained that the 92 percent boost in funding for that facility is unfair to others in the law enforcement community.

He said the budget pays for critical needs such as education and water reservoirs in response to the drought. But he warned that "a $65 million reduction in spending would have been a prudent first step in addressing the reality of our softening economy."

The state's tax collections are running behind what is needed to make the budget for the fiscal year.

State economist Kenneth Heaghney said revenues are set to lag $189 million behind projections in this fiscal year. Mr. Perdue had wanted to slash spending by $65 million, then fill the remainder of the shortfall from the state's $1.5 billion reserve fund.

Instead, that full amount will have to come from reserves.

But budget cuts are coming in Georgia.

The House voted on Thursday to reduce spending by $245 million -- as Mr. Perdue had recommended -- for the next fiscal year's budget. But they differed on where the cuts would come from.

The House cut funding for prisons, despite the state's growing inmate population. It also targeted Mr. Perdue's pet projects, such as land conservation money and a schools program designed to get parents of children with high absentee rates more involved in their schooling.

The Senate must also approve the spending bill, which covers the fiscal year that begins July 1.