July 22, 2009

Governor calls for teacher, state employee furloughs

Gov. Perdue announced this week he will try to cut $900 million from the state budget through spending reductions and furloughs of public school educators and other state employes.

Most state agencies are being ordered to cut spending by 5 percent, the governor said. A 3 percent spending reduction will be imposed on education, Medicaid and PeachCare, while there will be no immediate cutbacks in spending on mental health care.

The governor said state employees and teachers will also take at least three days of furloughs this year, reducing their salaries accordingly. The teacher furloughs will be administered by local superintendents after the state reduces its allotments to local school systems by an amount equal to what three days of furloughs would save.

The moves are in response to continuing declines in state revenue, but the governor stopped short of calling the legislature into special session to rewrite the fiscal year 2010 budget.