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Published Monday, November 16, 2009 in Opinion

Georgia DOT cutting state roadway litter pickup program

Editorial

(Editor's note: Today's guest editorial is from the Brunswick News.)

Voters may soon find out that gains made by lawmakers and policymakers in Atlanta the past decade or so may amount to a net of zero or somewhere below even that if the economic recovery that experts are talking about doesn't start showing up in Georgia's budget. Hardly a week goes by without some state agency announcing that it is cutting back on services to taxpayers and communities due to continued revenue shortfalls. Just last week, for example, the Georgia Department of Transportation announced that it is canceling a program that involves weekend litter pickup on state highways in all cities and counties. The department supervises some 3,000 probationers who are working off sentences by performing hours of community service, which entails picking up trash and other debris on road shoulders. It is a productive way for them to pay back society.

Budget cutbacks are to blame, transportation officials say. Weak spending continues to wreak havoc on revenue and the state budget. No one will refute that, but why is it that the programs that are cost-effective and in place for years -- this one dating back to 1998 -- are usually among the first tossed overboard in a budget crisis?

This program is a terrific service for this community and the rest of Georgia. Both benefit from tourism, which adds to the overall financial well-being of the state. Even the state knows that in the battle for tourism, attractions and imagery are everything. Just look at the multi-million investment Georgia is making on Jekyll Island. Now, it wants to bring the curtain down on programs that add some needed seasoning to the mixture of sand, beach and surf.

Surely there are other places to trim spending without having to deep-six a program that works. Certainly there are other areas in the transportation department budget that can be tabled or scaled back without a heavy negative impact on residents and the business community. It just doesn't make sense to kick something that works to the side. It just doesn't make sense.

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