- Collection:
- Georgia Government Publications
- Serial:
- Press release.
- Title:
- Press release [Oct. 23, 2003B]
- Creator:
- Georgia. General Assembly. House. Public Information Office
- Contributor to Resource:
- Georgia. General Assembly. House. Public Information Office
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia. General Assembly. House. Public Information Office
- Date of Original:
- 2003-10-23
- Subject:
- Georgia
- Location:
- United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
- Medium:
- publications (documents)
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- Open access; Unrestricted online access star GAGAL
July 29, 2002B; title from Georgia Government Publications citation, viewed September 19, 2007. - External Identifiers:
- Call Number GA L412 .P1 P7 2003/10-23B
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bl412-b-pp1-bp7-b2003-s10-h23b-belec-p-btext
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/do:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bl412-b-pp1-bp7-b2003-s10-h23b-belec-p-btext
- Language:
- eng
- Holding Institution:
- University of Georgia. Map and Government Information Library
- Rights:
-
Georgia House of Representatives Public Information Office
Room 131, State Capitol 30334 404-656-5082 1-800-282-5800
10-1868-5022 For Immediate Release
October 23, 2003
Purcell Hears from Ag Commodities
Meeting Held to Discuss Future Funding
Atlanta The Higher Education Sub-Committee of Appropriations along with the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee met recently with Gale Buchanan, Dean of the University of Georgia's School of Agriculture and representatives from the state's many agriculture commodities. The discussion focused on potential reductions in next years budget, specifically the amount of county extension agents who serve Georgia farmers by providing information on crops.
State Rep. Ann Purcell, (D-Rincon), Chairwoman of the Higher Education SubCommittee said, "Research is the key to improving Agriculture in Georgia and it would be a disservice to our farmers if this much needed tool is no longer available. Funding for UGA's School of Agriculture's County Extension Agents is a top priority. Agriculture is the backbone of Georgia's economy and I will work next session to restore some of these
Because of Georgia's current revenue shortfall, Governor Perdue has ordered state agencies to cut their current spending plans by 2.5 percent and ordered an additional 5 percent cut for next year. That has prompted UGA's School of Agriculture, who employs county agents, to float the elimination of eight positions throughout the state.
The number of county extension agents has dropped from 504 in 1990 to 312 now and the number of extension specialist has decreased from 226 to 111 in that same time. Butts, Macon, Meriwether and Talbot counties have no extension agents and in the last fiscal year the system cut 21 jobs.
Rep. Purcell chairs the Interstate Cooperation Committee and serves on the Appropriations, Economic Development and Tourism and Agriculture and Consumer Affairs committees
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For further information contact Rep. Purcell at 404-656-5139.