There has bee a lot of discussion about the state budget and how to downsize it to fit our current fiscal realities. I have, frankly, been disappointed by many of the proposals I have heard.

We have got to budget under the assumption that state revenues are not going to bounce right back in a month or a year. Many of the gimmicks and cuts being discussed (such as furloughs) are short-term fixes to what could be a long-term problem. They bend under the strain ready to pop right back up again as soon as money becomes available.

We need to make some hard choices and permanently shrink the size of government. It is the best way to address the current shortfall and it leaves the state with a more streamlined organization ready to give better value to our customers in the future.

I believe we need to cut the state work force by at least 10% — excluding teachers and public safety personnel. This is roughly 7,800 state employees and would yield approximately $400 million.

Government is not a jobs program – it is supposed to provide key services to the taxpayers in the most efficient manner possible. I cut the size of the Secretary of State’s office by nearly 20% by reducing the workforce, eliminating waste and duplication, and increasing efficiencies. I believe the state, as a whole, can – must — do this as well. Layoffs are never easy but this is taxpayer money we are spending and we must spend it in the best possible way; education and public safety must be our priorities.

“It is simply irresponsible to talk about teacher furloughs and shorter school weeks before we have made permanent cuts throughout state government,” Handel said. “Georgia’s children need to be in school more, not less.”

Businesses large and small across Georgia have made the tough decisions and downsized to meet the demands of the economic downturn, that is what the state must do as well. These are the kinds or hard decisions leaders must make in difficult times, I urge the Legislature to make them now and avoid more damage to education for our children.

As Governor, I will also employ zero-based budgeting (starting agency budgets as a blank piece of paper rather than basing them on the previous year’s spending) and keep spending in check with the line item veto as often as necessary.

These are tough times, and they demand tough decisions. If I have the privilege of serving as your next Governor, I am prepared to make them.

Karen Handel

This entry was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 5:57 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.