Legislative update: a briefing for faculty and staff of the University System of Georgia, No. 12 (Mar. 31, 2009)

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
A Briefing for Faculty & Staff of the University System of Georgia No. 12, March 31, 2009
"Creating a More Educated Georgia"

Senate Appropriations Committee Acts on FY 2010 Budget

On Monday, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed an $18.6 billion state budget for Fiscal Year 2010 that restored some of the targeted cuts to the University System of Georgia's (USG) budget made earlier in the session.
The items the committee added back include: $3.7 million to fund the aviation mission of Middle Georgia College; $1.24 million to fund the liberal arts mission of Georgia College & State University;

$600,000 to fund the leadership mission at North Georgia Colege & State University; and $2.1 million that was cut from the budget of the University System Office by House Bill 700.
The Senate committee included a number of reductions in its version of the FY 2010 Budget. For example, the committee eliminated funding for:
u The USG's P16 Initiative ($735,000);
u The Intellectual Capital Partner-

ship Program (ICAPP) ($5.3 million);
u The Early College Program ($1.2 million);
u The Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia ($2.23 million); and
u The Medical College of Georgia's research mission ($10.7 million).
"We are currently trying to learn more about the reason that these funds were eliminated," Chief Operating Officer

House Resolution 165 Passes
House Resolution 165 (sponsored by Rep. Bob Smith of Watkinsville) requesting that the University System of Georgia help make Georgia the # 1 DESTINATION FOR ENTREPRENEURS in the United States by expanding education for the support of science, innovation, technology, energy and new Georgia entrepreneurs, passed the House on Monday by a vote of 152-1.

Rob Watts wrote in a memo on the developments to USG presidents Monday afternoon.
Overall, the Senate Appropriations Committee version of the budget raises the reductions to the USG's FY 2010 Budget to a cumulative total of approximately $270 million.
The full Senate is scheduled to vote on the FY 2010 Budget on Wednesday, at which point senators and House representatives will begin negotiating via a budget conference committee. The 2009 legislative session is scheduled to end on Friday, so the conference committee will be under considerable pressure to beat the clock. Q

"We applaud Rep. Bob Smith for his genuine and sincere efforts to bring attention to and promote the need for greater investment in science, innovation and entrepreneurship," said Thomas E. Daniel, the University System of Georgia's senior vice chancellor for external affairs. "We believe, as he believes, that higher education is one way to energize the current economy." Q