Throughout last week, the House and Senate adjourned to conduct budget hearings for the 2011 fiscal year in their respective Appropriations subcommittees. These hearings will continue during the first week in March along with regular committee business in both chambers. Session will reconvene next Monday, March 8 for the twenty-first legislative day.

            Each session, the legislative budget process begins with the Governor's budget report to the House. The Office of the Governor is constitutionally required to introduce this report to the General Assembly within five days of the start of the regular legislative session. The budget report is a starting point for the House and serves as a baseline from which the House makes its appropriations for the fiscal year. This report, outlining the funding and spending goals of state agencies and offices, results from year-round analysis and accounting conducted by the Office of Planning and Budget (OPB) and the individual agencies. After the Governor presents the report to the House, both chambers begin budget hearings in order to craft their versions of the state budget. Because all appropriations bills must originate in the House, that chamber passes its version first. The Senate then takes up the House bill and substitutes the Senate version. Once the Senate passes its version of the House bill, it is transmitted back to the House where that chamber insists on the original version. Inevitably, the differences are ironed out in the Conference Committee, a committee usually composed of those members most knowledgeable in appropriations from both houses. It is this version that is adopted by the House and Senate and the one which the governor signs or vetoes. As I wrote before, there are two budgets during any given legislative session: the amended or adjusted budget for the current fiscal year and the budget for the next fiscal year. In Georgia, the constitution requires a balanced budget, so that expenditures cannot exceed revenues. During years where the economy generates higher state revenues, the amended budget needs little modification save for changes in educational enrollment funding. When revenues decline significantly, the amended budget will contain equally significant cuts.

            Unfortunately, the last few years have forced drastic reductions to our budget. The amended 2010 budget addressed a revenue shortfall of around $1.5 billion, and in its final form, represented a nine percent reduction from the initial version. Despite the four percent projected revenue growth estimated by the Governor's office, the legislature is preparing to face another revenue shortfall close to $1 billion for the 2011 budget. Estimated increases in Medicaid usage, K-12 and college student enrollment increases, mental health facility expansions, along with additional debt servicing on state bond packages and teachers' retirement cost of living adjustments promise to add roughly $800 million in obligations for the next fiscal year. The Governor's office has proposed an additional nine percent cut in agency funding for the next fiscal year, but only time will tell if economic growth will generate the revenues necessary to avoid those additional cuts.

            All this means that we are not out of the woods yet. When state governments, businesses, and taxpaying families face tough economies like ours, they have to make sacrifices, and we in Georgia are no exception. Everyone has a different idea of what programs cannot afford to see  cuts–that's politics—and those ideas are as varied as answers to what should be the proper role of government. The good news is that our political process affords everyone the opportunity to make his or her voice heard. Over the coming weeks, I encourage you to contact your representatives and senators and provide your input on next year's budget and other legislation.

            As always, I am honored to represent the people of Brantley, Pierce, and Wayne counties, and I take this responsibility seriously. I welcome your thoughts and recommendations, and I know that with hard work and cooperation, we will persevere through the good times and the tough times. Please visit www.markpwilliams.com, http://www.legis.state.ga.us/ , or contact my office at (404) 656-0188 for more information.