No. 11, March 31, 2003

Session Schedule

The General Assembly will be in recess throughout the week of March 31 to accommodate budget discussions. The legislature is scheduled to be called back into session on Monday, April 7.

Legislative Update will resume publication on Monday, April 14.

Conference Committee Recommends No New Cuts in FY '03 Amended Budget

The University System of Georgia fared well in the Conference Committee version of the Fiscal Year 2003 Amended Budget, sustaining no additional cuts to resident instruction, receiving $3.75 million in health insurance funds, and picking up six minor capital outlay projects.

Also, to the relief of USG officials, the committee left intact funds for the Board of Regents' lottery fund initiatives. This package includes appropriations for the Equipment, Technology and Construction Trust (ETACT) Fund; GALILEO, Georgia's virtual library; and a special funding initiative called Connecting Teachers, Students and Services. It also includes Internet Connectivity, another special funding initiative that will increase access to USG services by the public libraries. The four lottery fund initiatives remained unaltered throughout the session and were approved as recommended by Gov. Sonny Perdue for a total of more than $21.5 million.

The budget will not be official until it is signed by the Governor, but University System officials are pleased with the Conference Committee's work.

"We are very thankful our legislators realized just how disastrous any new, additional austerity adjustments to our budget would have been this late in the fiscal year," said Chancellor Thomas C. Meredith. "We managed to communicate to them the dire consequences of laying off more than 1,000 of the very people who help to shape this system's margin of excellence. Clearly, that message resonated with the legislators."

The possibility of new cuts to the USG budget came into play last month when the Senate recommended shaving an additional $3.2 million from the System's resident-instruction budget on top of the previous $29.8 million austerity adjustment already assessed to the University System. However, the Conference Committee elected to return to the Governor's recommendation of no new cuts.

"The committee also put back into the resident-instruction budget funds to help us meet the rising cost of providing health insurance to University System employees, and that was very welcome news," said Thomas E. Daniel, senior vice chancellor for External Activities and Facilities. "We received $3.75 million. Given the state's very limited funds, we are appreciative of this decision."

"We extend our sincere thank to the six members of the Conference Committee for their careful deliberations on this budget," said Meredith. "We also wish to compliment Gov. Perdue on his sound recommendations."

Among the few changes the Conference Committee made to the "B unit" budget ("Regents Central Office and Other Organized Activities") was to add back $516,250 for public library construction projects in Telfair and Wheeler counties.

The Conference Committee went with the Governor's recommendation for a $4.2 million austerity adjustment that applies to all B unit items except the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission.

The Conference Committee's capital budget includes $25 million in Major Repairs and Renovations (MRR) funds, restoring dollars that had been cut from the original FY '03 Budget. The capital budget also includes $8.6 million for construction and equipment for the University of Georgia's Coverdell Building, $15 million for UGA's Biocontainment Research Center, and nearly $21.5 million in bonds to finance six minor capital outlay projects.

The capital projects proposed for funding by the Conference Committee include:

• Armstrong Atlantic State University - $5 million for the Lane Library Code and Systems Upgrade Project;
• Southern Polytechnic State University - $5 million for renovating biology, chemistry and physics labs;
• Medical College of Georgia - $4.9 million to replace and upgrade a boiler plant;
• East Georgia College - $4.85 million for the new Georgia Rural Economic Development and Technology Center;
• Atlanta Metropolitan College - $1 million for Phase II of improvements to the campus' entryway; and
• Georgia Southwestern State University - $700,000 in planning funds for the renovation of the campus' administration building, historic Wheatley Hall.

These projects were added by the General Assembly.

"We're very happy that the legislature found these projects worthy of funding in a tight budget climate," Daniel said.