11 Responses to “TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: 25 percent cut in budgets”

• Neal

  May 30th, 2009 at 2:00 am

  DA Porter stated it most succinctly: The Governor is avoiding his responsibility to “govern” by taking the easy across the board route. A leader must decide how best to use the available resources and most would agree that recreation, land acquisition and like executive agencies should not be prioritized equally with the co-equal judicial branch of government.

• Some guy

  May 30th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

  Danny Porter for Governor!!!

• Lowell

  June 1st, 2009 at 10:57 am

  The across-the-board meatax approach to budget cuts is simple and easy to decree, but seldom wise.

  When courts are effectively shut down, the ability to prosecute dangerous criminals severely restricted. The ripple effect through the system will play out over a long period of time as criminal defense lawyers flood prosecutors with speedy trial demands, courts and prosecutors lack the capacity to get cases to trial, and criminals walk free. When criminals freed due to Gov. Perdue’s meatax approach to budget cuts start commit new serious crimes against innocent Georgians, the fault will lie in part with Gov. Perdue.

  Why not take the meatax to “Go Fish Georgia” and other pet projects, and a surgical scalpel to the budgets of essential services including operation of the courts?

• Concerned about Crime

  June 2nd, 2009 at 12:15 pm

  On Wednesday, Perdue flew in his state helicopter to Lake Lanier with his entourage (all on state payroll) to open a million dollar “Go Fish” boat ramp. On Thursday, he cut 25% from the judicial branch for June which will likely result in 7 days of unpaid furloughs for Georgia prosecutors and staff, the closing of courts and no justice for hundreds of victims of crime. Oh well, at least they can fish. Shame on Sonny…

• Ryan

  June 3rd, 2009 at 11:55 am

  Across the board cuts is the only way to get action out of state agencies to reduce spending and headcount. The same is required for city and county governments. There is no pass for judicial and legislative branches of government. They have to manage with less just as everyone else. If they can’t or don’t want to…quit and get someone else in those positions.

• Joe

  June 3rd, 2009 at 1:21 pm

  Furloughing prosecutors is arguably the worst way for the state to save money. In the short term, it will severely cripple the administration of justice. In the long term, it is likely that fewer attorneys will choose to become prosecutors. Considering that the best ADAs in the state could make much more money in private practice, a further reduction to a salary that is already not commiserate with the work could easily drive people away from prosecution jobs once the economy improves.

• Jim

  June 3rd, 2009 at 7:32 pm

  The Governor’s office was at best completely incompetent in giving essentially no notice of these cuts until days before the money was to be transferred to the judicial branch, the legislative branch, and the executive branch agencies. The economy has been sour for months. It is laughable to believe that the Governor did not know these cuts were necessary until last week. More notice would have granted more ability to absorb the cuts.

  Additionally, in attempting to cut the legislative and judicial branches, the Governor is exercising a power he does not lawfully have. The legislature of both the state and the nation rail against judicial “legislating from this bench”. The Governor is usurping the General Assembly in attempting to seize this power. If he wants the ability to cut the legislative and judicial branches after signing the budget, he should lobby the legislature to amend the appropriate statute to grant him this ability.

• redweather

  June 5th, 2009 at 8:28 am

  So far no one commenting has said a thing about judicial personnel costs, which have always been a sticking point in the budgetary process. For instance, we hear often about how the justices on the Supreme Court haven’t had a pay raise for x number of years, but we never seem to hear anything about how much it costs to fund a Supreme Court justice’s office. You just might be surprised. Then there are the superior court judges who end up making more than a supreme court justice, which is another story. If it didn’t take so long to download the Georgia Department of Ausits report, I’d share some numbers with you.

  I am not a fan of Governor Perdue — can’t believe he was voted into office not once but twice. But the judiciary always falls back on its “co-equal branch of government” argument, and in times like these that just doesn’t resonate, at least not with me. Perdue may lose in the courts, but the judiciary is long overdue, in my opinion, for a reality check.

  And in case you’re wondering, I’m no fan of the Legislature either.

• Man from Atlanta

  June 6th, 2009 at 9:28 am

  Redweather, do you know how the personnel costs for a justice compares to the Governor’s staff costs? I think you might find cost for the justices’ admins and clerks to be quite reasonable when you see the budget from across the street. Yeah, Gov’s Office FY 2009: $103,898,210.

  Over the years our appellate judges are some of the busiest in the country, and I don’t mind giving the justices a staff to help them find time to think through the issues presented to them.

• N.

  June 8th, 2009 at 3:43 pm

  Just on the court side (not counting DAs), the judicial branch budget accounts for less than 1% of overall state budget.

• Ken Stepp

  June 11th, 2009 at 12:48 pm

  You have to be kidding me !! I’m in Gwinnett. We have major drug cartels moving in ,a police force that is already over burdened and the DA’s office is backed up forever. Look I do not always like what goes on with our DA’s office but its all we have. Drug problems mean more work not less. Has the Governor lost his mind ? When was this passed ? We can’t cut anything in Gwinnett. I hate politics. This is a joke.