- Collection:
- Georgia Government Publications
- Serial:
- Press release.
- Title:
- Press release [Feb. 11, 2004]
- 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:
- 2004-02-11
- 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 2004/2-11
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bl412-b-pp1-bp7-b2004-s2-h11-belec-p-btext
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/do:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bl412-b-pp1-bp7-b2004-s2-h11-belec-p-btext
- Language:
- eng
- Holding Institution:
- University of Georgia. Map and Government Information Library
- Rights:
-
House Information Office Room 505, Legislative Office Building
Atlanta, Georgia 30334 1-800-282-5800 404-656-5082
2-1962-5116
February 11, 2004
For Immediate Release
EXTENSION AGENTS HIGH PRIORITY FOR REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON
Atlanta State Representative Lester Jackson (D-Savannah) has been hearing from concerned
constituents and fellow lawmakers with a strong interest in agriculture. Their discussions have
focused on potential cutbacks in the state's University Systems "B" budget, affecting a variety of
services to farmers. The B budget is the part of the state University System funding in which
institutes and other research centers reside.
Because of Georgia's current revenue shortfall, Governor Perdue has ordered state agencies to cut their current spending plans by 2.5 percent and an additional 5 percent cut for next year. Respectively, these cuts to UGA 's College of Agriculture, which oversees county extension agents and the Agriculture Experiment Station, are $926,000 in FY 04 and $2.6 million for FY 05. The number of county extension agents has dropped from 504 in 1990 to 312 now and the number of extension specialists has decreased from 226 to 111 in that same time. In 2002, 21 agents were cut from the budget.
"County agents are invaluable to rural communities." said Representative Jackson. "They provide services and information for farmers who frankly are having a hard time in today's tough economic times. Georgia is no longer just competing with the Midwest in agriculture but with nations throughout the world. Cutting such a valuable resource will significantly harm our state's number one industry". Jackson also noted that the budget for the State's 4H agents work is within the Cooperative Extension Service and will be reduced as a result of the proposed cuts.
On another note, House Speaker Terry Coleman (D-Eastman) said, "Cooperative Extension Service isn't the only one taking a big cut in this budget. There is a list of research institutes and valuable experiment stations that are going to face severe reductions in funding that could be detrimental to the future of Georgia. The House is committed to reinstating the University System's "B" budget as a separate section of the 05 spending plan and working to fully fund each one of these important programs."
Other programs in the "B" budget facing cuts include the Georgia Tech Research Institute, $800,000 cut; Agriculture Technology Research Programs, $227,037 cut; Marine Extension Service, $117,301 cut; Veterinary Medicine Experiment Stations, $187,297 cut; Medical College of Georgia Health Inc. Contract, $2.5 million cut; and the Georgia Public Library Service and Public Libraries, $2.1 million cut.
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For further information, please contact Representative Lester Jackson at 404-656-3904