UPDATED

Legislators Try A New Ploy In Adopting Midyear Budget

Updated throughout on Friday at 4:40 p.m. to show Perdue has signed the midyear budget.

By Dick Pettys
InsiderAdvantage Georgia

(3/21/08) A slick move on the part of the Legislature Thursday drew one right back from the governor on Friday.

Not even 24 hours after lawmakers sent him a midyear budget under a procedure they thought might put him in a bind, Perdue signed the document, using his line-item veto power on only two items: a $250,000 earmark for a law enforcement training center in Powder Springs, and one which caps enrollment in the state's pre-k program.

Both houses voted Thursday to approve the budget and also took the unusual step of voting to "immediately transmit" it to the governor. That's done in only rare cases, and hasn't been done on budgets in years, if ever. What that does is to trigger a constitutional requirement for Perdue to sign, veto or line-item veto items in the budget within six days, instead of the usual time frame of 40 days after adjournment for him to act.

The practical implications were to force Perdue to act while the Legislature still is in Atlanta so that overrides could be undertaken.

Immediately after Thursday's vote, Bert Brantley, the governor's press secretary said Perdue met last week with legislative leaders and showed them his projections that state revenue will fall $190 million short of funding the midyear budget. That's why he recommended cutting new money in the budget by $65 million from $332 million to a new level of $267 million, and making up for the rest of the shortage by dipping into reserves, Brantley said..

"This is a concern moving forward," he said. "The governor asked for this to be considered and they spent the entire $332 million."

But on Friday, Perdue signed the bill - except for the two items - perhaps averting a major showdown.

He said in a statement:

“This is a budget that funds the critical needs of our growing state including trauma care, education and water reservoirs. The good news is that it is virtually free of special-interest earmarks. However, a $65 million reduction in spending would have been a prudent first step in addressing the reality of our softening economy.”

Here are the details of the vetoes:

Section 37, pertaining to the Department of Public Safety, page 124, item 290.101:

The General Assembly seeks to earmark $250,000 for the North Central Law Enforcement Academy within the Field Offices and Services program. This appropriation seeks to increase the $271,952 annual contract currently between the Georgia Public Safety Training Center and the Cobb County Commission by 92%. Other contracts for regional law enforcement academies are for the same amount, and a 92% increase for the North Georgia Law Enforcement Academy would create significant inequities with the other regional law enforcement academies. As I stated last year regarding the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget, increases for law enforcement academies should be managed on a fair and equitable basis for all academies. Therefore, I veto this appropriation.

Section 20, pertaining to the Department of Early Care and Learning, page 49, item 106.100:

The General Assembly seeks to limit the number of Pre-K slots in the purpose statement of the Pre-Kindergarten program by inclusion of the following language: “This appropriation shall provide funds for no more than 77,775 slots.” While the Department is currently managing for and expecting utilization of fewer than 77,775 slots, any limitation on the number of slots available is a matter to be determined pursuant to general law and not through an appropriation. Therefore, I have instructed the Department to comply strictly with the appropriation limit while understanding that the slot limit is not operative. I remain willing to engage in discussion of this issue through the general law legislative process.

Meanwhile, the $21.2 billion budget for the next fiscal year came out of the House on Thursday after the midyear budget cleared. It includes 2.5 percent pay raises for teachers and state employees and eliminates $90 million of the continuing $141 million "austerity" cuts to schools that have been a legacy in state budgets since the last recession.

That measure now goes to the Senate, which could vote on it next Friday.