State rep. Mary Margaret Oliver update 3/2/10
March 2, 2010 – Half-way Point of 40 Day Session! This is Mary Margaret Oliver’s third email newsletter for the 2010 General Assembly Session which convened January 11, 2010 and has completed 20 days of the 40 day Session. In each newsletter, I ask how you would vote on a pending bill or budget item. I am very grateful for your thoughtful responses and I personally read all your answers. Thank you for your interest and opinions!
Weekly question: Both the House and the Senate have taken a two week break from convening in Session to review fiscal year 2010 mid-year budget required adjustments, and the proposed budget for 2011, which begins July 1, 2010 and ends June 30, 2011. Early estimates, that could get worse, indicate the state’s budget must be cut another approximate one billion dollars for fiscal year 2011. The earlier revenue projections of growth for this year and next year do not seem viable.
What would you cut from the budget to meet the constitutional requirement that Georgia pass a balanced budget? Options currently under discussion to balance the budget:
1. Cut every state agency the same, approximately an additional eight percent, on top of the budget cuts of approximately ten percent since 2009. The previous budget cuts have not impacted state agencies the same percentage. For instance, since the 2009 budget of 20 billion dollars, the agency cuts, by percentage after the one-time stimulus money has been added, have been approximately:
Education 10.9% cut, without the stimulus money, 15.1% cut
Human Services 18.2% cut, without the stimulus money, 19.5% cut
Corrections 7.3% cut, without the stimulus money, 14.7% cut
Regents 9.3% cut, without the stimulus money, 15.4%
2. Cut the following “non-essential” state services that can be eliminated totally or phased out in the next two years:
a. All state golf courses, administered either by private contracts or by the Department of Natural Resources.
b. The two totally state funded cemeteries for veterans. Veterans buried in the state cemeteries and Milledgeville and Glennville charge the deceased no fees.
c. The two veterans nursing homes for approximately 500 veterans in Augusta and Milledgeville that accept no Medicare or Medicaid funding, and have no means test for admission. The veterans pay no part of their care at these two nursing homes.
d. Eliminate proposed funding for construction of the College Hall of Fame to be built in Centennial Park. The state will provide no operations money for this project in the future, and the site for this museum has been negotiated through the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development offices.
e. Impose additional furlough days, meaning further pay cuts, on all state employees, including teachers, who have already incurred a salary cut of between 5 and 10 %.
To provide additional revenue that will minimize but not eliminate the budget cuts, the General Assembly is still considering fee increases, hospital taxes requested by the Governor, additional taxes on tobacco, specifically packs of cigarettes, and elimination the sales tax exemption on food and prescriptions. None of these proposed tax increases appear to have support from the House or Senate leadership at this time. I support the increased tobacco tax, but not the elimination of sales tax on food and prescriptions.
What do you think? What else would you cut or tax?
To review additional budget analysis and questions posed, visit www.GBPI.org. The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute is a non-profit corporation that provides independent budget analysis.
To reply to the weekly question about the budget, please click “reply” or email me at mmo@mmolaw.com. I serve on the Appropriations Committee in the House, specifically the Human Resources sub-committee, we are meeting daily during this two week break, and I need your input. Thank you!
MMO Legislative Activities:-- MMO has previously reported on bills she has introduced, specifically, HB 742 on medical consent issues, HB 1031 relating to Georgia’s truancy law, and HB 1144 granting to juveniles credit for “time served” on their sentences. Hearings will be held on each of these bills the week of March 8, when the General Assembly reconvenes. New legislation has been presented by MMO to the DeKalb delegation on behalf of the DeKalb State Court clerk and judges to raise the court’s filing fees in order to help with county budget shortfalls. You can review these or any other bill filed at the General Assembly web site www.legis.state.ga.us, and updates will be provided on MMO’s Facebook and web site www.marymargaretoliver.org.
Capitol visits and Speaking engagements – MMO has also hosted several pages from DeKalb’s Leadership Institute, and met with high-school Close-up students and Leadership DeKalb at the Capitol.
If you would like MMO to visit your group to talk about legislative issues, or visit the Capitol during a Session, please let her know.
Thank you for all your interest and support. Please contact me about any issue that concerns you.
MARY MARGARET
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