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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Perdue proposes $1 billion spending increase
By DICK PETTYS
AP Political Writer
ATLANTA - For the first
time in two years, Gov.
Sonny Perdue laid out good
news to a Georgia
Legislature weary of budg
et cuts, outlining a pro
posed $1 billion budget
increase for next year that
will put bulldozers to work
on school, road and port
construction projects
across the state.
But even as he outlined
his proposed $17.4 billion
spending package to a joint
legislative session
Wednesday night, he cau
tioned that the “New
Georgia” he envisions as
the first Republican gover
nor since 1870 is one of
making government an
instrument to help people
do more for themselves -
not to do it for them.
Apparently responding
to criticism that he has
been an unambitious gov
ernor, Perdue insisted in a
combined State of the
State and budget address
that the path to greatness
for a state is not one of
increasing the size of gov
ernment or adding new
programs.
“We don’t want a busy
body government - a boss -
that butts into our lives
every chance it gets to tell
us how to work, how to
play, where to live and on
and on,” he said. “And we
don’t want to perpetuate
an entitlement mentality
that causes people to
expect more and more
from the government and
less and less of them
selves.”
“The starring role
belongs to We The People -
the citizens of Georgia who
are the true strength of our
state,” he said.
It was the first time since
his election in 2002 that he
was speaking to a fully
appreciative crowd. Both
chambers now are under
Republican control. For
the first two years of his
term. Democrats held the
Responses mixed to Perdue's State of the State speech
By DOUG GROSS
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA - Reactions to
Gov. Sonny Perdue’s State
of the State address were
mixed, with his fellow
Republicans giving him high
marks while Democrats and
some activists questioned
his rhetoric and proposals.
Perdue trumpeted an
improving economy and pre
sented a budget that
includes $1 billion in new
state spending, even as he
called for budget discipline
from lawmakers.
He laid out priorities
including a 2 percent pay
raise for teachers and other
state employees, plans to
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GOV. SONNY PERDUE
house.
His allies rewarded him
with two dozen rounds of
applause, often rising to
their feet.
They also punished his
enemies. Democratic Lt.
Gov. Mark Taylor, who by
custom presides over joint
sessions of the Legislature,
was not allowed to wield
the gavel. Taylor hopes to
challenge Perdue for re
election in 2006.
The new House leaders
told Taylor in a letter just
hours before the event that
they would handle those
chores, themselves. Joint
sessions always are held in
the larger House cham
bers.
Taylor, delivering the
response afterward for
Democrats, attacked
Perdue for “a lack of
vision, a lack of priorities,
a lack of leadership” in
presiding over two years of
steep cuts to education and
health care, and said
Perdue should have
focused on the strained
state of Georgia families
rather than the state of the
state.
But House Speaker
Glenn Richardson, R-
Hiram, said of the address,
“I thought it was great.
This was a speech from the
heart.”
hire 500 new case workers
for state children’s services
and beef up service at state
driver’s license offices.
The message resonated
within the GOE which holds
majorities in both chambers
of the legislature for the
first time since
Reconstruction.
“I think what we’ve seen
from the governor tonight
are the things that people
want in Georgia,” said Rep.
Ben Harbin, R-Martinez,
the new chairman of the
budget-writing
Appropriations Committee.
“The key is going to be to
take that additional revenue
and spend it in the right
Some of the budget ini
tiatives Perdue announced
in the speech were old
news - the 2 percent pay
raise for teachers, state
employees and university
system personnel; full for
mula funding for K-12
schools and the university
system; and the hiring of
500 new state child care
workers and more driver’s
license examiners. He
already had made those
announcements at previ
ous events.
Teachers previously had
said they were unhappy
with the size of the raise,
and the speech did not
change their minds.
Merchuria Chase
Williams, president of the
Georgia Association of
Educators, said, “Clearly,
it’s not enough,” and
added that with the 13 per
cent increase Perdue pro
poses for their health care
premiums, they will lose
further ground.
Despite earlier concerns
that health programs like
Medicaid and Peach Care
for Kids would take heavy
hits, they won’t. Perdue
said no one currently eligi
ble for those programs will
lose their eligibility,
although some services will
be scaled back and some
payments to medical
providers will be reduced.
That fear resulted from
Perdue’s announcement to
state agency heads last
year that they must show
him where their budgets
could be cut more. In the
previous two years, state
agencies absorbed cuts of
more than $1 billion.
A rebounding economy
enabled him to spare most
agencies from the ax. One
that wasn’t: the Secretary
of State’s office, headed by
Democrat Cathy Cox - who
also plans to challenge
Perdue for the governor’s
office in 2006.
Part of the new money in
the budget will pay first
year principal-and-interest
costs on an additional $1
places.”
Democrats, however, took
exception to Perdue’s
admonishment not to go
back to what he called “the
old ways of growing govern
ment and reaching ever
deeper into the taxpayers
pockets.”
Perdue told a story of
early American settlers who
burned their ships to elimi
nate the temptation to
return to the Old World if
times got hard.
“I certainly don’t want to
burn a ship that has given
Georgians a billion dollars
in tax cuts for a governor
that came in and raised
taxes,” said Senate
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13818
STATE
Excerpts from Gov. Somy Perdue's state of the State address
By The Associated Press
Excerpts from the text of Georgia Gov.
Sonny Perdue’s State of the State address:
On Georgia’s economy:
“Today I’m happy to report, the skies are
clearing. When I ran for this office I told
you the forecast was sunny. I just didn’t
tell you when. We’re finally moving into
economic recovery, adding more than
39,000 jobs in the last twelve months.”
“Some may feel tempted to turn back.
Back to the old ways of growing govern
ment and reaching ever deeper into the
taxpayers’ pockets. But I’m here to tell you
tonight, we’re not going back.”
On government’s role:
“Yes, government has a role in helping us
reach our goals - but as a partner, a co
laborer, not as a boss. The starring role
belongs to We The People - the citizens of
Georgia who are the true strength of our
state.”
“You see, I believe most people want just
a few basic things from government. They
want safe neighborhoods, good schools,
good roads and the opportunity for good
jobs to support their families. They want a
safety net in place for the hard times.
Beyond that, they just want government to
leave them alone. We don’t want a busy
body government - a boss - that butts into
billion in new debt, about
the same as Perdue pro
posed last year. About S4OO
million of the money will
finance the governor’s
“Fast Forward” program to
relieve traffic congestion in
the metro Atlanta area and
build or improve rural
roads.
Other construction will
occur at public schools, col
leges and universities and
technical schools.
In policy areas, Perdue
said he will push a new ini
tiative to put “booster
rockets on small business
growth in Georgia” by
offering a new tax exemp
Democratic Leader Robert
Brown, of Macon, referring
to tax policies under
Democratic governors and
lawmakers.
In his first term, Perdue
proposed increasing tobacco
and alcohol taxes to help
plug a budget shortfall. The
Legislature axed the alcohol
proposal, but approved a
smaller tobacco tax than the
governor first suggested.
Reviews also were mixed
on Perdue’s education pro
posals.
He is suggesting $103.4
million to fully fund the
state university system’s
enrollment increase needs,
plus another $168.9 million
Perry United Methodist Church
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our lives every chance it gets to tell us how
to work, how to play, where to live and on
and on.”
“I think our government motto should be
like that of a great Georgia company, The
Home Depot - ‘You can do it, we can help.’
<4
On a 2-percent pay raise for teach
ers and other state employees:
“We know that our teachers work hard.
If we all spent more time in the classroom
with them I know that you, like me, would
want to pay them all like (Atlanta Falcons
quarterback) Michael Vick.”
On a plan to hire 500 more state
childcare workers:
“We must do all in our power to shield
children from abuse and neglect. And that
applies especially to children in state cus
tody, who rely on us to be their champions
and defenders.”
On a plan to hire more driver’s
license examiners:
“Getting or renewing a driver’s license is
probably the one thing government does
that both touches and aggravates just
about everyone. If we didn’t have a monop
oly on this business we’d be out of busi
ness. So we’re going to stop acting like a
monopoly and start serving customers.”
tion for small businesses.
In addition, he said he
hopes to eliminate many
burdensome government
regulations.
“Survival is tough
enough without the gov
ernment coming along to
poke a stick in your eye
with costly, poorly consid
ered - and, can I say dumb
- regulations.”
Perdue also said he will
propose a tourism growth
initiative and one targeting
strategic industries by
offering a SSOO-per-job tax
credit for Georgia compa
nies that expand.
The government’s safety
for college and university
construction projects.
“We’re very pleased,” said
University System of
Georgia vice chancellor Tom
Daniel. “It’s a very exciting,
positive development and
we’re thankful.”
But the raise for teachers
- which Perdue announced
last week - was still receiv
ing a tepid response.
“We thank the governor
for caring enough about
teachers to give us the 2 per
cent raise, but clearly it is
not enough,” said Merchuria
Chase Williams, president of
the Georgia Association of
Educators.
She noted that teachers
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net is important, he said,
but should be augmented
by members of the faith
community. Perdue said he
will again propose legisla
tion allowing government
to spend money for servic
es provided by churches
and other faith groups.
Perdue also plugged
again for passage of his
ethics bill, stalled for two
years by Democrats when
they ran the House.
“I fully expect a strong
ethics bill to reach my desk
by the end of the session,”
he warned. “The people of
Georgia want it and I think
it’s time we got it done.”
received no raise two years
ago and the equivalent of a 1
percent raise this year, say
ing rising health care costs
have more than offset those
raises.
Democrats also said the
raise is not enough, and
questioned Perdue’s deci
sion to once again postpone
a plan, pushed by former
Gov. Roy Barnes, to decrease
class sizes in Georgia
schools.
“Our teachers deserve a
pay increase; they deserve
more than a 2 percent
increase,” Brown said. “But
they also deserve better con
ditions.”
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