Proposed 2011 Budget Skimps On Public Safety

Atlanta, GA – Governor Sonny Perdue’s proposed 2011 budget will jeopardize the public safety of all Georgia citizens. From staffing cuts to service reductions, the Republican proposal will continue to mismanage state public safety agencies.

Troubling examples of this mismanagement include:

• Troopers take six times the number of furlough days as Georgia’s teachers.
• The state’s aging police fleet has over 200 cars with mileage nearing 150,000.
• The Department of Public Safety has over 360 job vacancies.
• Many interstate weigh stations are operating part-time only, resulting in more dangerous roads and costly road repair[1].
• Prosecutors have been forced to take nearly 20 days off without pay, making it harder to put the guilty behind bars1.
• Three of the state’s seven regional crime labs are closing on April 1, delaying the prosecution of lawbreakers[2].
• The Department of Corrections is not replacing 1,500 jobs already downsized, jeopardizing the continued incarceration of Georgia’s most dangerous criminals[3].

“Yet again, Sonny Perdue and the Republicans are putting us all at risk. In times of economic uncertainty, we need to prioritize our budget spending,” said Jane Kidd, Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “Government’s most basic role is protecting our families from crime. The Republicans are again demonstrating that they still don’t get it.”

“This budget proposal continues the dangerous rationing of public safety resources and fails to restore the funding that has already been cut,” Kidd concluded.

The ‘Frightful Five’ will highlight five egregious examples of fiscal mismanagement in the 2011 proposed budget. This is the fourth in the series, distributed daily, and scheduled to conclude tomorrow, 1/22.