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Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008

Perdue announces 'aggressive' infrastructure stimulus package

ATHENS — Gov. Sonny Perdue on Tuesday announced an “aggressive” state stimulus package of new infrastructure projects to help Georgia out of its economic malaise.

Perdue didn’t discuss figures or specific projects, which will come out as his administration finishes a budget that the governor said they’re “putting to bed right now.” But Perdue said education and transportation projects would be particularly important as the state takes on debt to build new projects and put people to work.

The state issues bonds in most years to fund large construction projects and has issued about $1 billion in that kind of debt each year for the past several years. But this year Perdue specifically discussed bonded projects as a tool for job creation.

“We will have an aggressive bond package this year,” Perdue told reporters following a speech to legislators gathered in Athens for a couple of days of pre-legislative session training and hobnobbing.

The governor’s announcement came with some positive economic news: November revenue figures were up 1.4 percent for the state this year compared to November 2007.

But revenues are still down for the current fiscal year as a whole, and last year wasn’t a good year for state finances, either. Perdue said the state’s economic forecasters “don’t think we’ve fully harvested the downturn.”

That amounts to a cash flow problem, but the state has strong reserves and an excellent bond rating, Perdue said. Federal bailout money may be coming for infrastructure projects as well, but Perdue said he’s not counting on that as he builds a budget and his bond package.

“We’re cash poor, but we’ve got good credit,” he said. “(We can do) our own stimulus package for the state of Georgia.”

Response to the governor’s announcement was measured, given that there’s a lot of time and tinkering between now and when the state Legislature finishes its own work on Perdue’s budget. That will start next month, after the General Assembly goes into session Jan. 12.

“What I can say is that I do think ... investing in the future ... could very well be good sound fiscal policy,” Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said after the governor’s speech.

Projects are needed and “they’re needed right now, particularly transportation,” Cagle said, but it’s “too early to put a number on it.”

State Rep. DuBose Porter, a Dublin legislator who leads the Democratic minority in the House, said he wants Georgia to be ready for federal stimulus programs and to leverage that money against its own. Porter said Tuesday was the first time he heard of Perdue’s stimulus plan, which he likened to former Gov. Zell Miller’s “Georgia Rebound” program in the early 1990s.

As for the rest of the state budget, Perdue again said that department-by-department cuts could be closer to 8 percent than the 6 percent already in place, but that’s not final. He called the economic situation — the state is expecting a budget shortfall of at least $1.6 billion this year — a good time to retool state government and an “opportunity to come out of this downturn, frankly, more efficient.”

Perdue’s speech to legislators was part pep talk for the upcoming session and part economic reality. He told a couple of folksy stories and gave a word of caution about tinkering with the budget he will release next month.

State Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, agreed with the governor and with other legislators that tough budget choices are ahead.

“The cuts are going to be deep,” he said. “There are going to be people screaming and yelling at us the next couple of months.”

To contact writer Travis Fain, call him at 744-4213.