ATLANTA --- The state budget will include some cuts Gov. Sonny Perdue acknowledged as painful Wednesday, but he is also calling for a $1.2 billion stimulus package that would include building the medical commons at the Medical College of Georgia.
He would pay for the stimulus package by borrowing through the issuing of 20-year bonds as declining tax collections are creating a $2.2 billion deficit in the current budget.
"This (bond package) will take advantage of low construction costs and create an estimated 20,000 new jobs in an industry that is ready to go to work," he said.
The package also includes $1.5 million for replacing the fire alarm monitoring system, asbestos abatement and cooling tower at East Central Regional Hospital in Gracewood.
At the same time, the governor's budget continues closing much of Gracewood. His reorganization shifts much of the treatment to community-based programs that allow patients to live at home, but it would also move 280 beds used when diagnosing people brought in by law enforcement. Those patients would have to be taken to Central State Hospital in Milledgeville.
"I know some folks will be concerned with how this might affect jobs in their area, but when it comes to mental health, I believe we have an obligation to provide services to Georgians as close as possible to where they live," Mr. Perdue said.
Rep. Barbara Sims, R-Augusta, said he's misreading her interests. "I didn't quite understand why he said that. ... I would think patient care is the concern that I would have," she said.
Rep. Quincy Murphy, D-Augusta, agreed.
"The patients would be my primary concern if you're talking about moving them an hour or an hour and a half away from their families," he said. "That presents a major hardship."
Both said they would join the rest of the Augusta delegation in fighting to keep the Augusta facility as it is.
Mr. Perdue's budget also eliminates the homeowners tax relief grant of $428 million to city and county governments and school boards. Mr. Perdue has urged them to cut their own spending in response, but many officials fear they will send local property owners an additional tax bill at mid-year.
Legislators and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle have said they think they can find a way to restore the grants for the current budget year.
Ending the grants isn't the only spending reductions the governor is proposing. He is also calling for cuts averaging 10 percent at all agencies except K-12 education, which will be cut 8 percent this year and 3 percent next year, and health care, which was trimmed 9 percent this year and would get a 1 percent increase next year.
To soften the blow somewhat, he would tap $450 million from the state's rainy-day fund, leaving only the amount required by law as a minimum reserve.
In his comments, Mr. Perdue said he couldn't halt budget cuts while waiting for Congress to pass President-elect Obama's stimulus package, which is expected to send money to states to help them cope with budget deficits.
"We cannot plan by relying on the unknown, and the budgets I present to you today are balanced and do not assume money from Washington," Mr. Perdue said in his State of the State address.
He blamed Washington for his decision to impose a 1.6 percent fee on hospitals and health insurance plans and boost fines by $200 for drivers exceeding 85 mph on interstates. That money would fund a statewide network of specialized trauma hospitals and increase the fees for providers of medical service to Medicaid patients.
The governor didn't mention any pay raises for state workers or teachers -- other than a plan to pay more to math and science instructors and those whose students excel on standardized tests. That didn't sit well with Jeff Hubbard, the president of the Georgia Asso ciation of Educators.
"We feel that to judge the effectiveness of a child's education and the effectiveness of the teacher should be judged on many more variables than just a standardized test," he said.
Democrats also expressed disappointment with the Perdue plan.
"Cutting across the board may be the simple answer, but it's not the right answer," said House Minority Leader DuBose Porter, D-Dublin. "Some programs can be cut by more than 6 percent, 8 percent or 10 percent, while some can't handle a cut that big."
A spreadsheet sent to reporters by Mr. Perdue's office notes that the percentage of cuts does vary by program. For example, the Council on Aging would get a 25 percent reduction while the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council would see a 57 percent cut.
Most legislators contacted late Wednesday were still pouring over the 500 pages of budget details. Next week, they'll begin meetings with agency heads to discuss the impact of the cuts and to see where they might make changes.
LOCAL PROJECTS
From the governor's $1.2 billion stimulus bond package:
- $1.5 million to replace fire alarm monitoring system, asbestos abatement and cooling tower at East Central Regional Hospital in Gracewood.
- $6 million to design a Consolidated Medical Education Commons at Medical College of Georgia.
CUTS:
- Department of Veterans Service will reduce funding by $373,110 to MCG for operating the Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home.
- Department of Early Care and Learning will close its regional office of child care services in Martinez.
Comments
"I didn't quite understand why he said that. ... I would think patient care is the concern that I would have," she said......."he" didn't misread anything, Ms Sims. It is all about reducing costs. Patient care has nothing to do with it(community-based programs that allow patients to live at home). And it is happening all around the country, not just here in Georgia.
Again, the argument is "who's getting their bull gored?". No government can tax their way out of debt, national or state. Reduce taxes and end all UNNECESSARY spending and the state will cease to be in the red. Economic growth will return. The power of taxation is just too tempting for the left or the right. The Fair Tax Plan, as written, is the answer.
Mental Health services should be privatized. The govt. has created an institution where jobs are more important than the patient.
Sonny (give me all your money) Perdue is in dire need of mental health treatment. He's lost his mind. He is trying to single handedly destroy heath care in Georgia. He needs to send his idiot Dr. Meadows back wherever she came from.
In times before Christ, Egyptians (Africa if you know how to find it on a map) held Europeans in slavery. Where the hell is my reparation?????
Is Quincy Murphy dense or what? Perdue says he wants to move mental patients from state facilities back to their families' homes. Then Murphy counters that Perdue is going to move them an hour and a half AWAY from their families. Quincy, get with the program and think before you speak.
go to any construction project in Georga and see who is doing the work. most of the bond money like most of obama's stimulus money will wind up in Mexico, not with the American economy or people.
I don't understand why it takes $6 million just to DESIGN a medical commons for Augusta..... That would buy about 15 nice $400,000 homes on a lake or golf course, already built, with land included.
Actually Little Lamb and shivas, that is exactly what Perdue wants to do. The whole is not being told, and if you don't have any family who requires mental health services, then you don't understand. We are fortunate to have an excellent state hospital which takes all the patients that MCG and other sites refuse to take. The employees could make better money elsewhere but care about the patients and thus choose to stay in a pretty tough working environment. Closing the hospital would indeed mean that these severely mentally ill people will have to go to Milledgeville or farther in order to receive inpatient treatment. Guess you didn't notice that part but Quincy did and we all know that too. Most of our families can't afford to travel even to see our loved ones, and yes, there are some who use the system, but most of them don't. Also several hundred employees will lose all benefits if privatized, so that's not a good option either. So you can slam the local legislators but we applaud and support their efforts.
Gracewood is a dinosaur and should be totally done away with. The patients should be in smaller facilities, closer to the communities they are from. The others, that are more functional, should be able to live in group homes, with family, or in places like Bon Air.
Hey could ol' Sonny throw some more money in there so we could get reimbursed for Gilbert Manor or should we just write that off to local government stupidity?
Yes, the Gracewood campus is old but again, it is much easier to say for the patients to be moved when you aren't the one involved. That has been their homes for so long, and the staff treat them like the families they may or may not have. People also are afraid to have them in their neighborhoods but it sounds like HillGuy would be a great person to advocate for a home near him! In the meantime, both Gracewood and Georgia Regional would be thrilled to have any donations of clothes, crafts, or whatever they could use to improve their stay. Why don't you step up and help?
paulwheeler when the construction jobs coming to Augusta. And the medical jobs along with tax base MCG brings with this new construction 200 million, and now 6 more million for medical commons. MCG and Augusta are looking great.
"Mental Health services should be privatized. The govt. has created an institution where jobs are more important than the patient." ------ Same can be said of public education. It's become a socialist society, that keeps eating up over 60% of the operating budget alone. We need BETTER teachers, not teachers wanting just the 50k/year salary and consider students "inhuman" (much like their friend Stalin considered anyone but his "chosen few").
BTW, I lost ALL respect for MCG. Last time I was there a very rude MD just flat out told me that Lasix (used in controlling edema in heart patients, and by extension lowering their blood pressure) doesn't do anything to control their blood pressure. That's when I knew never to return, and found a doc that is BETTER EDUCATED in medicine. When it drops the BP by 20 points, you better believe it helps control hypertension! That hospital has truly fallen from grace within the last 5 years.
unFairtax Plan=shift the tax burden to the middle class. Perdue's plan: $6.5 million for start up of Georgia Gwinnett College.We need another college?$2,000,000 to design and construct library in Douglas County;o $665,000 CowetaCounty, $2,000,000 to design and construct the Forsyth County PublicLibrary, Forsyth County;o $200,000 to designlibrary Jeff Davis County, $500,000 to design and construct libraryMuscogee County, $2,000,000 to design and construct LibraryAddition, Conyers, Rockdale County, $1,225,000 to design and construct libraryCoweta County, $1,900,000 to design and construct library Pierce County;o $2,000,000 to design and construct library Houston County .It seems there are already libraries in these counties. $20 million for prep school at GMC in MilledgevilleNot to mention $17 million in 2007 and $23 million in 2008 for "Go fishing" program, most spent in his home county. Also plans to extend MCG to Athens. How many millions will that take?What was it the Repubs were saying about being against pork and earmarks?
Sandy, the doc was technically correct. Lowering BP is secondary to getting rid of excess fluid. It's a fact. Using a diuretic only to get rid of fluid will lower BP. MCG would probably be happy to see you go elsewhere.
Thanks for that list of libraries to be funded with state money, TechLover. Too bad the citizens of Augusta voted to fund their own library. That took us out of the running for state money.
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