Legislative update: a briefing for faculty and staff of the University System of Georgia, No. 14 (May 30, 2003)

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
A Briefing for Faculty & Staff of the University System of Georgia No. 14, May 30, 2003
"Creating a More Educated Georgia"

A Closer Look at the FY 2004 Budget

Here is a complete run-down of the Fiscal Year 2004 Budget for the University System of Georgia (USG), as adopted by the General Assembly on April 25, the final day of the 2003 legislative session. The budget -- containing $1.68 billion in state appropriations compared to $1.73 billion in FY 2003 -- still awaits the signature of Gov. Sonny Perdue, who has until June 4 to sign or veto it.
As Legislative Update previously reported, state legislators supported the element of the FY '04 Budget most crucial to the University System's operation -- $88.2 million in formula funding -- and added three additional minor capital outlay projects totaling $13.3 million.
The budget -- which gives the University System $56 million

fewer dollars to work with than it received in state appropriations last year -- also includes $20 million in repair and renovation funding for the USG's 3,000-plus buildings.
Those are the highlights of the package. For the finer details, read on.
Budget Unit A (Resident Instruction)
In this portion of the budget, the legislature:
allotted $81.5 million for formula adjustments to reflect a 6.6 percent increase in credit-hour enrollment and $6.7 million for formula adjustments related to increases in the University System's square footage;
reduced personal services and operating expenses by $42.9 million to reflect a 3 percent re-

Final Issue for the 2003 Session
Unless Gov. Sonny Perdue directs the General Assembly to hold a special session, this is the last issue of Legislative Update you will receive in 2003.

duction to the Board of Regents' formula earnings;
made an austerity adjustment totaling $30.4 million to all items in the resident-instruction budget; and
removed $27.7 million in semesterconversion "hold harmless" funding.
Legislators also made the following adjustments to USG Special Funding Initiatives:
1) reduced funding for all initiatives by 3 percent, for a total reduction of $1 million;
2) restored a recommended $186,240 reduction to the budget of Georgia State University's Water Policy Research Center;
3) restored a recommended $105,336 reduction to the budget of the Intellectual Capital Partnership Program (ICAPP) for its Total Systems project with

Columbus State University;
4) eliminated $200,000 in one-time funds for the University System's study on higher education access by AfricanAmerican males; and
5) reduced funding for the USG's Graduate Initiatives by $1.2 million.
The General Assembly also reduced the funding of several Georgia Research Consortium programs as follows:
Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) funds were reduced by $31,500;
funds for phasing Yamacraw programs into GRA Advanced Communications Research were reduced by $1.3 million;
funding for the Traditional Industries Program were reduced by $358,000; and
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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE -- May 30, 2003, Issue No. 14

FY'04 Budget
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the Georgia Environmental Partnership's budget was reduced by $21,174.
Funding for two Georgia State University centers -- the Center for Trade and Technology Transfer and the Institute for Community Business Development -- was reduced by $300,000 and $175,000, respectively. Another unit of Georgia State, the Center for Civic Renewal and Engagement, received $380,332.
In accordance with Gov. Perdue's recom-

mendation, the Conference Committee transferred all funding for faculty for the Water Policy Research Center -- Georgia State faculty -- from the formula to the existing special funding initiative for water policy research.
The final budget also included $100,000 to maintain the Tift College campus in Monroe County.
In a move that affected every state agency to the same degree, the Conference Committee reduced by $12 million -- $11 million of it from the resident

instruction budget and close to $1 million of it from the "B" budget -- funds that provide for adjustments to, among other things, Worker's Compensation contributions and the employer portion of employee life insurance contributions.
However, approximately half of the $12 million reduction will have no net impact, as USG institutions will not have to pay Worker's Compensation premiums.
The Conference Committee added $1.4 million to the budget for the Georgia Tech

Regional Engineering Program (GTREP). The Conference Committee also added $250,000 for Savannah State University's Continuing Education program.
Under enhancements, the Governor, House of Representatives, Senate and Conference Committee all agreed on providing $750,000 to fund one Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Eminent Scholar, and the Conference Committee restored $500,000 to the GRA's overall funding that the Senate had removed.
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Wrap-Up of Legislation of Interest to the University System

Throughout the Georgia General Assembly's 2003 Legislative Session, University System officials monitored many bills of interest to higher education and the Georgia Public Library Service. Jim Flowers, special assistant to the University System's chief information officer, provided the following information on how this legislation fared when "sine die"

was declared on April 25.
Bills the Governor has signed into law since the end of the session:
Senate Bill 73 allows USG institutions to carry over from one fiscal year to the next any revenue they collect in the form of technology fees, continuing education fees and indirect cost recoveries. This is pilot legislation scheduled to be repealed on June 30, 2006, unless the University System can demonstrate the bill has aided good fiscal management.

House Bill 213 restricts the information printed on a receipt documenting the use of a payment card. The bill also outlines other restrictions involving payment-card transactions. Institutions subject to the GrammLeach-Bliley Act are exempt from these restrictions.
House Bill 456 provides a three-year period during which the Georgia Technology Authority may spend the remaining $20 million of a trust fund known as the Universal Service Fund on

PeopleSoft upgrades for other state agencies. Heretofore, use of the trust fund has been limited to creating and maintaining distancelearning and telemedicine networks.
House Bill 521 requires USG institutions with campus managed housing to inform newly arriving students who will live in campus housing of meningococcal disease and the availability of a vaccine. If signed by the Governor, this law will take effect on Jan. 1, 2004. Senate
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FY'04 Budget
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Budget Unit B (University System Office and other Organized Activities)
Most of the socalled "B Units" did not experience any changes in funding after the Governor made his recommendations -- mostly reductions for these units -- in January.
The following B units had their budgets reduced as indicated:
Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access ($35,748);

Georgia Tech Research Institute ($213,597);
Agricultural Technology Research Program ($54,952);
Advanced Technology Development Center and Economic Development Institute ($307,559);
State Data Research Center ($185,598);
Agricultural Experiment Stations ($1,421,442);
Cooperative Extension Service ($1,516,095);
Marine Extension Service ($51,014);
Marine Institute

($32,822);
Veterinary Medicine Experiment Stations ($81,123);
Veterinary Medicine Agricultural Research ($41,035);
Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital ($16,769);
Skidaway Institute of Oceanography ($55,992);
University System Office ($317,168);
a) Contract for social science curriculum ($545,000);
b) Funding for tourism office at the State University of West Georgia

($95,000);
c) Funding for a lecture series at Georgia Southern University ($50,000);
d) Funding for the leadership program at Kennesaw State University ($35,000);
Georgia Military College ($22,820);
Medical College of Georgia Health, Inc., contract ($1,085,698); and
Georgia Public Library Service ($1,226,430).
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Legislation
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House Bill 251 would exempt the sale of tickets to USG athletic events from the state's sales tax. This bill remains in a House committee.Bill 105 allows
Bills and resolutions that passed the General Assembly and are awaiting the Governor's signature:
Senate Bill 105 allows USG institutions to charge up to $30 for bad checks received.
Senate Bill 255 exempts USG employees' family members from

the state law prohibiting state employees from doing business with a state agency, as long as the USG employee is not in a position to influence the resulting transactions.
Senate Resolution 220 creates a Joint Study Commission on improving the HOPE Scholarship. Chancellor Thomas C. Meredith will be one of the commission's 20 members, as will a public college student and the parent of a public college student to be appointed by the Governor.

House Bill 56 transfers the Georgia Board for Physician Workforce and the State Medical Education Board from the Department of Community Health to the University System for administrative purposes.
House Bill 95 allows criminal prosecution of a sports booster who illegally gives more than $250 in money or goods to college student athletes. Under the terms of this bill, boosters who break the rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)

can be charged with a "high and aggravated misdemeanor," and a university can sue the booster to recover any monetary damages suffered by the school as a result of the rules violation.
House Bill 194 updates and clarifies how the activities of sports agents are regulated.
House Bill 424 allows colleges and universities to deduct funds from employee paychecks for contributions to savings accounts under the Georgia Higher Educa-
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FY'04 Budget
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In addition, the Skidaway Institute received the legislature's approval to pursue a grant or loan from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority to correct wastewater problems.
The legislature also transferred $292,000 for the University of Georgia's Poultry Veterinary Labs and another $102,687 to cover salary increases at the Athens-Tifton Veterinary Lab to the budget of the Georgia Department of Agriculture. UGA also lost $10,000 designated to fund its hosting of the

Georgia High School Rodeo Association Finals, but gained $85,000 to fund the final year of a research project on Formosan termites.
Legislators also deleted $125,000 in additional funding for value-added activities at the Cooperative Extension Service and reduced by $180,904 the budget for the Extension Service, to be offset by raising its soil sample test fees by $2.
Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS) had reductions of $506,935 for lapsed salaries from central office and public li-

brarian positions and $104,250 for librarian travel. However, GPLS gained $502,169 for materials, maintenance and operations and its Talking Books Center, due to increases in the civilian non-institutional population.
The legislature engineered another transfer of funds between state agencies by shifting $5,606,902 from the budget of the State Data and Research Center to three different agencies, as follows:
Office of Planning and Budget ($1,293,885);

Department of Education ($4,313,017); and
the University System Office and others ($208,510).
Capital Budget
The General Assembly authorized $5.04 million in bonds for equipment to support seven USG construction projects, including:
a Nursing, Health Science and Outreach Center at Macon State College ($1.3 million);
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tion Savings Plan with the employee's consent.
Bills and resolutions held for consideration by the 2004 General Assembly:
Senate Bill 244 would provide tuition equalization grants for students attending summer school at Georgia's private colleges and universities, with limits on the total number of hours to which grants can be applied.
House Resolution 601 urges the Board of Regents to establish a teacher education de-

gree program at Savannah State University to help increase the number of minority teachers in Georgia.
House Resolution 622 would have the Board of Regents report to the legislature and governor. This constitutional amendment would remove the current protections provided the University System by the State Constitution.
Senate Bill 52 is a State Internet Protection Act that would require filters in public libraries. This bill is being held in the

House Education Committee pending a Supreme Court ruling on federal law.
Senate Resolution 107 would create a Joint Study Committee on State Retirement Plan Options to explore cost savings through the creation of retirement plan options. The committee would be composed of House and Senate members, as well as representatives of four professional associations for state employees. The resolution was recommitted in the Senate Retirement Committee.

House Bill 771 (Ethics in Government) would require state agency heads to file financial disclosure statements, provides protection to whistle-blower employees, and prohibits public office holders from acting as lobbyists for one year after leaving state employment. This bill also would prohibit state employees from accepting gifts (meals, travel, etc.) valued at more than $25 from any entity which does business with the state -- especially as a lobbyist -- unless the
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an Agricultural Sciences building at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College ($400,000);
a Physical Education building at Darton College ($110,000);
a Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Athletic and Student Success Center at Georgia Southwestern State University ($935,000);

a Classroom and Convocation Center at Kennesaw State University ($350,000);
Phase II of a classroom replacement at Augusta State University ($1.64 million); and
equipment for Coastal Georgia Community College's Camden Center Lab ($275,000).
Legislators approved an additional $2.5 million in bonds for the design of Phase II of

the University of Georgia's School of Art.
Five other USG projects totaling $44.4 million in bond funds have been approved, including:
a library addition at Georgia Southern University ($20.5 million);
the Cancer Research Center at the Medical College of Georgia ($8.6 million);
an English classroom and office ad-

dition at Kennesaw State University ($4.95 million);
building infrastructure upgrades for Georgia State University's School of Art and Design ($3.5 million);
a Continuing Education/Economic Development Center at Dalton State College ($4.9 million); and
a new public library for Burke County ($2 million).

Legislation
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expense is for exempted purposes (such as attending a conference to speak).
House Bill 1020 would require publishers of any instructional materials to provide insti-

tutions with their product in an electronic format within 10 days of the receipt of such a request. This legislation is intended to accommodate students who cannot use print materials. The bill was introduced on the last day of the session, and

assigned to the House Committee on Education, not the Higher Education Committee. Efforts to move it to the proper committee are expected next January.
House Bill 867 would increase restrictions on the use of telecommu-

nications services. As proposed, this legislation would severely restrict network services, research and other common practices. The authors have agreed to study this issue. The bill is supported by the Motion Picture Association.

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