The Ashe Advocate - January 12, 2007

Lawmakers hear Governor’s state budget proposal

By Rep. Kathy Ashe

The first week of the 2007 session of the Georgia General Assembly was highlighted by ceremonial and organizational activities as newly elected or re-elected members took their oaths of office, leadership positions were filled, committees were assigned and the Governor delivered his annual State of the State address.

Rep. Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) was re-elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives by a majority of the members. The majority also adopted new rules that will strictly limit debate on legislation under consideration on the House floor. The “hawk” system was also reinstituted, giving the Speaker the power to hand-pick a House member to vote in any or all committees to help move or stop legislation according to the wishes of the Speaker. Also, much local legislation will now be handled similarly to general legislation and must pass through the Rules Committee.

In his address to a joint session of the House and Senate on Wednesday, Governor Perdue proposed a fiscal year 2008 annual budget that would reach an all-time high of $20.2 billion in state government spending. The governor has proposed new education initiatives including $21.3 million for expanding graduation coaches and $750,000 for providing a statewide online tutoring program. He also is recommending a 3 percent salary increase for educators this year but is continuing his policy of recommending reductions in the QBE funding formula for local schools, cutting $139 million in his proposal for the next fiscal year. These cuts shift the tax burden from the state level to the local level and caused more than 100 Georgia school systems to raise local property taxes over the past four years to make up the difference. The Governor also proposes to cut more than $274 million in funding to the University System of Georgia.

Other funding items in the Governor’s budget plan include $417 million in bonds for capital outlay construction, $176 million to fund health insurance costs for state employees, $50 million toward purchasing and protecting undeveloped land, $15 million for more than 1,200 new prison beds, $1.4 million to add 15 new GBI methamphetamine force agents, $4.8 million to develop a real-time information system to improve cancer screenings and $5 million to restore and revitalize historic sites.

The most significant piece of legislation handled by the House this week was House Resolution 13, which passed unanimously and is aimed at rescuing the PeachCare for Kids program. The measure urges Congress to fully fund the $131 million federal shortfall now faced by PeachCare, which provides health insurance for 270,000 children of Georgia’s working families. Parents and their children depend on this valuable program, and it touches families in every corner of our state, which is why it must be saved from its current economic peril.  

Please call your Congressman and U.S. Senator and let them know that Georgia’s families need them to reallocate the existing funds in the S-CHIP program before the end of February. Many are optimistic that Congress will re-authorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP or Georgia PeachCare) at some point in the spring or summer.  

However, the immediate problem is that we along with 12 other states are being penalized for our successful implementation of this program by a flawed federal formula.  That allocation formula needs to be changed now.  States slow to implement S-CHIP have money in the S-CHIP bank that could be re-directed to those states like Georgia with children enrolled in this insurance program.

Why now?  Georgia’s PeachCare will run out of money May 1, 2007 without additional federal dollars. The DCH will be required to mail out letters to the families of these children in February informing them that their access to healthcare through PeachCare will be terminated on May 1.

What can you do?  Call your friends in Washington, D.C. and let them know how important this is to our families. For more information and help in reaching your Congressmen, go to the following website.

http://www.georgiavoices.org/PeachCareAction.aspx

I am pleased to have been reappointed to serve on the House Children & Youth, Higher Education and Interstate Cooperation Committees. I also serve as secretary of the House Democratic Caucus.

In the coming week, the legislature will officially be in recess, but starting Tuesday, state agency department heads will present their annual budget requests to a joint session of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees.  Following the Appropriations hearings, the full legislature will reconvene on Monday, Jan. 22. Please contact me whenever I can be of service.

• Rep. Kathy Ashe (D-Atlanta) represents the 56th District (Fulton County) in the Georgia House of Representatives. Contact her at 409 Coverdell Office Building, Atlanta, GA  30334; by phone at 404-656-0116 or by e-mail at kathyashe56@mindspring.com.