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Page 4 — Wednesday, January 28, 2009, The Millen News
Opinions, yours and ours
The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett
This is the last reminder to pick up your Magic of Christmas
photographs. We will soon have to dispose of those left here
due to limitations on storage space. So, come by and get your
photographs as soon as possible.
I was delighted to learn that Lance Coiporal Adam Lanier,
son of Marshall and Elaine Lanier, had the opportunity to par
ticipate in the Inaugural Parade for President Barrack Obama
last week. Adam is a member of the 8th & I Marine Barracks,
Washington, D.C., and 81members of his unit participated in
the parade. I’m sure it was an unforgettable experience for him.
The poll question on our website last week was, “How con
fident are you that President Barrack Obama will fulfill his
campaign promises?”
Responses, as of Monday morning were, “Very confident -
9; Moderately confident - 7; Slightly confident - 6; and Not
confident at all - 22.
To participate in this week’s poll, go to http://
www.themillennews.com.
Happy birthday this week to: Denise Wells, Kneisha New
ton, Kimberly Simmons, Mary Burke, Elizabeth Daniel, Gladys
Parrish, Lee Fulcher, Hester Oglesby, Scottie Larisey, Gail
Lewis, Don Perkins and Margaret Clifton.
Celebrating wedding anniversaries this week are: Mr. and
Mrs. Jody Bowers.
Military Active Duty List: Lance Cpl. Adam Lanier, U.S.
Marines, 8 th & I Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.; E-4 Sr.
Airman Roy Davis, U.S. Air Force, RAF Molesworth, United
Kingdom; Lance Cpl. Patrick Barnette, U.S. Marines, Twenty
Nine Palms, CA; Sgt. Adam Demshar, 44th Signal Battalion,
Baghdad, Iraq; Cpl. Lee Ogden, U.S. Marines, Camp
Pendleton, CA; E5 Petty Officer 2 nd Class Eric B. Kelsey,
U.S. Navy, NSA Naples, Italy; Airman First Class Charles F.
Woods, Moody Air Force Base, Valdosta, GA; Stuart Burrus,
U.S. Air Force, Barksdale AFB, Bossier, LA; SPC 4 Travis D.
Motes, 1st Calvary Division, T. Hood, Texas; Capt. Donald
Slade Burke, 735th Air Mobility Squadron Detachment 1 Com
mander, Richmond Royal Australian AFB, Richmond, Austra
lia; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th
Field Artillery, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamie A. Yager,
U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; Petty Chief Officer
Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.;
Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer;
Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National Guard, 878th Engineer
ing Battalion-Augusta, Persian Gulf; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd
Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC.
Daniel Stuart, 18thMEDCOM, 121 General Hospital, Seoul,
Korea; Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/
E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark,
U.S. Marine Coip, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp
Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S.
Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E-3, U.S. Army,
Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; Arnold R.
Mosley, 2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and
Debra A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB,
Texas; and SPC Charles “C.J.” Amerson, U.S. Army, Camp
Adder, Iraq.
Letters policy
Letters to the editor of The Millen News are welcomed and
encouraged. These are pages of opinions, yours and ours.
The unsigned editorials generally appearing on the left side of
the editorial page represent the opinion of the newspaper and not
that of any one person on our staff. Personal columns represent
the opinions of the writers whose names appear on them and are
not to be considered the opinion of this newspaper, its manage
ment or owners. Letters to the editor voice the opinions of the
newspaper’s readers.
The Millen News reserves the right to edit any and all portions
of a letter. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters must
include the signature, address and phone number of the writer to
allow our staff to authenticate its origin. Letters should be lim
ited to 400 words.
The deadline for letters is Friday at 5 p.m. You can email let
ters to themillennews@yahoo.com.
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"...Looks like this is going to be a long winter!"
Jon Burns
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
On Jan. 12 the 150th legislative session of the Georgia General
Assembly was gaveled open as members of the House of Repre
sentatives and members of the Senate were sworn in for our legis
lative duties. This process repeats itself every two years following
the elections, and the winners of the 180 districts in the House and
56 districts in the Senate are seated to serve their district and state.
The first week is mainly an organizational week for the General
Assembly as few bills are debated. It is used to elect the leadership
of the House of Representatives and assign the membership to the
many standing committees. It is also used to develop strategies for
tackling our biggest problems, mainly this year, a $2 billion short
fall in the Fiscal Year 2009 budget.
Also last week, the Governor unveiled highlights in his Amended
Fiscal Year 2009 and his Fiscal Year 2010 budget recommenda
tions. The General Assembly reviews two budgets a year. The first
is the review of the FY 2009 budget which begins July 1 every
year. In January, we begin to review that budget to see if we are
short funding for mandatory programs like education and
healthcare. The second budget, or what we call the “big budget,”
is used to set spending policy to fund the state government for the
upcoming fiscal year The Governor each year introduces his mid
year corrections and his policy and program funding for the next
year. The General Assembly is tasked with reviewing the budget
and making changes where we see fit. It is part of the oversight
responsibility that the citizens have to insure that the Governor is
doing the right thing.
Some of the highlights unveiled in the Governor’s State of the
State speech included the requisite budget issues, as well as, sev
eral key initiatives that the Governor wants to launch. Most nota
bly of his various proposals was a decision to overhaul the Depart
ment of Human Resources. DHR is Georgia’s human service agency
whose mission is to strengthen Georgia families by providing ser
vices through about 80 programs that ensure their health and wel
fare. Unfortunately, this department, by far the biggest in the state,
has grown into a bureaucracy unto itself. DHR encompasses pro
grams that help Georgians who suffer mental retardation, mental
health problems, assistance to the poor and senior services. Many
of these programs are very much needed, but the level of bureau
cracy has made them unwieldy and limited their ability to “best”
serve those that need the help.
One bill was debated and that was House Resolution 1022. The
resolution ratifies the comprehensive state water management plan
that was adopted by the State Water Council. It overwhelmingly
passed 131-37.
After completing the first five days of this year’s session, the
House and Senate broke for a week to begin budget hearings in
front of joint meeting of the House and Senate Appropriations
Committees. Most state agency directors will testify before the
Joint Appropriations healings to discuss their agencies and their
priorities. In addition, it allows for your elected representation to
ask questions regarding various programs and to ascertain their
viability.
Contact me at jon.burns@house.ga.gov or at 404-656-5105. I
appreciate your input on these important issues.
JB Powell
GOVERNOR PROPOSES SPENDING CUTS, TAX INCREASES
The 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly got under
way Jan. 12 as lawmakers returned to Atlanta knowing that our
No. 1 challenge is to balance the new state budget in the tough
est economic conditions we have faced in any of our lifetimes.
On the third day of the session, Gov. Perdue laid out budget pro
posals that indicate Georgians are in for more tough times in the
months ahead.
The governor has responded to a $2.2 billion revenue shortfall
in the current fiscal year with a 10 percent cut in state spending
between now and June 30, followed by a “slimmed-down,” $20.2
billion annual budget for fiscal year 2010. The proposals feature
significant reductions in state services, $1.2 billion in new state
borrowing, use of more than one third of the state’s reserve fund
and higher taxes for many Georgians.
Under the governor’s plan, teachers and other state employees
would go without a pay increase. Also, funding for school nurses
and supplements to teachers who receive national board certifi
cation would be eliminated.
Basic state funding for public schools would be cut by $185.8
million this year and $197 million in FY 2010, shifting those
costs to local property taxpayers and bringing the eight-year to
tal of education tax shifts under this administration to more than
$2 billion. Property owners would suffer a further tax increase if
legislators approve the governor’s plan to eliminate $428 mil
lion in tax relief grants to local governments.
The governor is also proposing a new 1.6 percent provider tax
on hospitals and HMOs to help fund Medicaid reimbursements -
a tax that would inevitably be borne by patients.
Other proposed cuts in the governor’s budget include $176
million for basic instruction funding at Georgia’s colleges and
universities, the closing of four state prisons and the elimination
of funding for state golf courses and eight state swimming pools
at Georgia parks.
The proposed bond package - 20 percent higher than the $1
billion in annual added debt in recent years - is mostly for con
struction of new schools, college buildings and other facilities.
The governor also wants to spend $50 million this year and $408
million next year from the state’s reserve fund, which currently
amounts to $1.2 billion.
Appropriations Committee members will begin consideration
of the proposal during budget hearings Jan. 21-23. Otherwise,
lawmakers are in official recess until Jan. 26.
The first week of the new session was devoted largely to or
ganizational matters and the introduction of the first legislative
proposals to be considered by various committees before they
are debated by the full Senate. I have been appointed to serve as
secretary of the Senate Science & Technology Committee and
also as a member of the Agriculture & Consumer Affairs, Inter
state Cooperation, Natural Resources & Environment (ex-offi
cio) and State Institutions & Property committees. Some of the
- See Powell, page 5
The Millen News
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