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Published Monday, March 08, 2010 in Local

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Legislators will dive back into the proposed budget cut issues this week after their recess.

Budget discussions often include a dash of theater

By Walter C. Jones

Morris News Service

ATLANTA – Last week's public outcry about possible budget cuts and politicians' counter charges of exorbitant salaries represents the latest production of a theater that veteran observers of the Capitol have seen often.

They liken it to the traditional Japanese dramas characterized by elaborate makeup and structured performances because all participants seem to be playing scripted parts.

"There definitely was a little Kabuki Theater going on with the (Board of) Regents," said Alan Essig, director of the independent think tank Georgia Budget and Policy Institute who's spent 20 years either as a legislative aide or lobbyist.

Monday, the University System of Georgia released a list of possible cuts that the presidents of the state's 35 public colleges and universities could use if the legislature appropriates $300 million less than what Gov. Sonny Perdue recommends for next year's budget. Lawmakers had requested the list, telling Chancellor Erroll Davis to show how to balance a reduced budget without raising tuition or fees.

Word of the list had begun spreading the previous Friday as administrators at the schools scrambled to submit their items by Saturday so Davis could release the list Monday. The list contained more than 4,000 layoffs, enrollment caps, shuttered satellite campuses and the elimination of dozens of majors at various locations, which would disrupt thousands of students.

The University of Georgia's entries were among the most visible. It would turn off its public-radio station, kill the 4-H youth program and dismiss half the county extension agents in the state. The Medical College of Georgia would close its cancer center and toss its nurse-anesthetists students out, five months before they were due to graduate.

The list triggered student protests and outrage by faculty. Legislators reported getting one e-mail per minute from people angry about the 4-H program.

Perdue tried to calm the panic when talking to reporters Thursday.

"I have been very chagrined at some of the scare tactics and fear mongering that has gone on regarding our University System," he said.

Former House Speaker Terry Coleman, now assistant commissioner of agriculture, has seen similar firestorms during budget discussions. It's common for agency heads to say their only option is to cut popular programs if their budget is reduced.

Coleman, who chaired the House Appropriations Committee for more than a decade, recalls that at least one mental hospital – always in the districts of key legislators – would be threatened with closure if the health budget shrank.

"The regional mental hospitals were always used as 'we'll throw the people out in the streets,'," he said.

Legislators recognize the tactic and react predictably.

"Being a legislator, you resent that because it unduly riles up the families. It causes short-term damage," he said. "In many cases it does backfire."

Advocates like for their supporters to become energized over funding issues, but they realize they also need to be careful, notes Mindy Binderman, director of government affairs and advocacy with Voices for Georgia's Children.

"Legislators don't react well to being threatened. None of us do," she said.

Cuts to education and colleges tend to bring their constituencies to a boil faster than cuts to other parts of government. The current budget cuts thousands of lunches to the Meals on Wheels program, but because the recipients are shut-ins, they're unlikely to storm the Capitol as college students did Wednesday.

Mere mention of trimming the $6 million 4-H program drew far more howls than much larger actual cuts to the state's welfare agency.

Education supporters have more political infrastructure in that the students meet regularly in one place to spread information; there are clubs and parent groups with newsletters, phone lists and now Web sites. And they can react quickly on weekdays when the legislature and news media are working full steam.

On the other hand, Binderman notes, stirring up passions about children's issues is harder because they can't drive themselves to protests or even vote, and often their parents have trouble rallying for them.

"When you're dealing with parents of young kids, they usually are in a more precarious situation at the beginning of their careers, so it's not as easy for them to get a day off work," she said.

For lawmakers, the challenge is sorting through the protests, the agency heads' predictions of consequences from being under funded. Complicating their task is knowledge that raising taxes enough to avoid the least popular budget cuts also comes with political costs.

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