GNB Update

Welcome to Tuesday...Here's what making news right now...

Voters will decide how much money will be spent on improving Georgia's highways. The Georgia House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation for a new "penny tax". It would raise $25 billion for new transportation projects over the next decade. But while it passed with an easy 149 to 18 vote, a referendum must be approved before the tax goes effect. That means House Resolution 206 also had to be approved. It also passed by a huge margin, 151 to 15. Voters, though, must wait until November 2010 to have their say on the tax.

A middle Georgia school system has given out furloughs to its staff. The Bibb County school board unanimously voted Monday to furlough more than 500 employees between four to five school days. The move would save the school system more than $800,000. Principals, central office administrators, band directors, campus police, and social workers will take a pay cut of two percent, while superintendent Sharon Patterson will have $4,000 taken out of her salary. The move comes as Governor Sonny Perdue announced that almost $99 million of education funding would be cut from the state budget. Bibb County will lose $1.4 million in state funding.

And Governor Perdue says the money from the recently passed federal stimulus package will make up for most of Georgia's budget shortfall. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the governor reduced his estimate of revenue collections by $1.65 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. His latest budget calls for the use of over $1.1 billion of the stimulus money.

That's the news for Tuesday. But there's more at georgianewsbeat.blogspot.com. Have a good evening.