Wilkes Legislative Breakfast hears of painful budget cuts from area's representatives

Rep. Mickey Channell told the Washington-Wilkes Legislative Breakfast that upcoming budget cuts were going to be painful at both the state and local levels. "We may be short $2.5 billion in next year's budget," State Rep. Mickey Channell told Thursday's annual legislative breakfast, "And we've got to figure out where to make the cuts. There's going to be real pain in this process."

Legislators representing the people of Wilkes County in Atlanta talked about the challenges of cutting the budget and other issues at the Annual Legislative Breakfast last Thursday at the Third Shiloh Mission Center in Washington. Sponsored by the Washington- Wilkes Chamber of Commerce, MEAG, and Wilkes County Community Partnership, the breakfast always brings out a full house of concerned citizens and civic leaders.

In addition to Channell, State Sen. Bill Jackson addressed the crowd, and field reps Nancy Bobbitt from Sen. Johnny Isakson's office, Jennifer Hayes from the office of Sen. Saxby Chambliss, and Regan Smith from the office of U.S. Rep. Paul Broun Jr., were also in attendance.

Senators Isakson and Chambliss and Rep. Broun were all in Washington, D.C., in a final session dealing with the bailout of the U.S. auto industry, Smith said.

But it was the Georgia state budget shortfall that was "the 10,000-pound gorilla in the room," Channell said, dominating every discussion. "When we go into session in January, the budget discussion will dominate everything. In a $21 billion budget, it appears we may be short $2.5 billion. We're in tough shape, and we'll come out of it, but the question is when? In my 16 years in the legislature, I've never seen more challenges than we have this year."

The state requires a balanced budget, he said. "If money's not coming in, we can't spend it. We're not like the federal government - we don't have a printing press."

The expected 10 percent reduction in state spending makes the second year of decreased revenue, Channell said, and that decrease will have to be passed down to the county and city levels. "As I told Sam Moore, we're in a mess, and y'all will be in a mess too. That's how it works."

Channell reviewed some of the legislation expected to come up in the January legislative session. One bill that has already been pre-filed, he said, was constitutional amendment to cap property assessments at three percent annually.

In the area of transportation, a regional transportation SPLOST will come up again, as will more trauma care for south Georgia.

But it was not all doom and gloom from the lawmakers. Saying that he was always there for Wilkes County, Jackson said that things would get better in the future. "I believe we're going to have some hard times, but I am not a negative person. I believe there's sunshine over this hill, and I believe we'll come through this too."