We surged past the halfway point of the session this week, and daily business is now moving very rapidly. Among the many pieces of legislation that passed this week, I am happy to report that the Fiscal Year 2008 amended budget has now passed the Senate. The amended budget is sometimes called the “little” budget, since it is only for the last part of the fiscal year, where we may release surplus funding for needed expenditures. This year’s FY 08 amended budget places an emphasis on the areas of natural resources, trauma care funding and education funding. The bill adds $300 million overall to the existing $20.2 million budgeted for fiscal year 2008.

The Senate’s version of the FY 08 budget contains:

$40 million dollars in new funding for the construction of new reservoirs and $500,000 for the maintenance and improvement of existing reservoirs. Legislation that I have sponsored, Senate Bill 342, will make state grants available to communities that hope to enlarge existing reservoirs or obtain permits to construct new ones.

New funds for state mental hospitals, child welfare services and the PeachCare program

$6.3 million dollars added to the hazardous waste trust fund

$53 million in new funding for trauma care

A $72 million down payment to return some of the education funds that have been reduced over the past several years due to austerity cuts

Senate and House leadership will now meet to hammer out the final details of the Amended budget. I feel we have a fiscally responsible budget for the remainder of FY 08, which emphasizes only the critical and emergency needs in the state.

In other news this week, the members of the Senate Transportation Committee saw the TSPLOST or Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax measure passed out of the Senate. Senate Resolution 845 creates a Constitutional Amendment that gives Georgia’s counties the option to form regional transportation districts, and Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle is a strong proponent of the measure. If approved by the voters, counties or transportation districts can set forth local referendum votes to raise new transportation funding. The first step toward a funding option for transportation needs in Georgia is to allow the citizens to decide how they want their transportation dollars spent. I look forward to seeing this measure take further steps in the process.

I have also introduced a bill on behalf of Georgia’s small businesses. Small business is the backbone of our state’s economy. If too many obstacles exist for small businesses, especially when it comes to policy, it is a big negative for our economy. Senate Bill 484 will require that ten percent of all funds appropriated to the state’s various budget units, like the Department of Administrative Services (DOAS), be dedicated to projects and contracts involving small businesses. This is a good bill that could help small business owners, which is something we spent the summer of 2007 working on in the Joint Senate and House Small Business Initiative.

As always, please contact me in my office on the issues that are affecting you and your area.

Please feel free to contact Sen. Chip Pearson at his office in Atlanta at 404.656.9221 or by email at chip.pearson@senate.ga.gov.