- Collection:
- Georgia Government Publications
- Serial:
- Press release.
- Title:
- Press release [Feb. 13, 2004A]
- 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:
- 2004-02-13
- 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 2004/2-13A
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bl412-b-pp1-bp7-b2004-s2-h13a-belec-p-btext
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/do:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bl412-b-pp1-bp7-b2004-s2-h13a-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
2-1965-5119
February 13, 2004
For Immediate Release
Extension Agents High Priority for Reece
Valuable resources must be protected
Atlanta State Representative Barbara Massey Reece (D-Menlo) 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 are resident.
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 Agricultural 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 2004, 21 agents were cut from the budget.
"Floyd County has no county extension agent, Chattooga County has no Family and Consumer Agent and Walker County has been two agents short for several years due to cuts in the extension budget. County agents are invaluable to rural communities," said Reece. "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." Reece 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.
Reece was a 4-h home economist in Walker County prior to her teaching career. She has first
hand knowledge of the value of the 4-h program. "4-H provides a variety of project activities for rural and urban students beginning in the 5th grade. Students gain knowledge in different project
areas and have many opportunities to develop leadership skills," said Reece.
### For further information contact Rep. Reece at 404-656-0305.