With an end to the legislative session in sight, legislators from both houses of the General Assembly confer over the differing budget proposals passed by each. Currently, lawmakers anticipate a cost to taxpayers of $19.3 billion. With that price tag, Libertarians question the fiscal sanity of a budget that grew beyond a combination of the rate of inflation and population growth estimates.
“A five percent increase over last year is hardly fiscally conservative,” says Libertarian Party of Georgia Executive Director Brett Bittner. “Republicans have once again hoodwinked advocates of limited government in this state. The promises made on the campaign trail to cut the size of state government are distant memories as they grow the size of government faster than inflation and the estimated population growth.”
“As we, the citizens of Georgia, continue to struggle in recovery from the recent financial calamity, tightening our belts and cutting things we can ‘do without,’ legislators, both Republicans and Democrats alike, saddle the taxpayers of Georgia with record spending. Ironically, this occurs at a time when the supposedly fiscally conservative Republicans have substantial majorities in both houses of the General Assembly. Rather than replenish reserves or refund the taxpayers of this state, Governor Deal picked up where where his predecessor and the legislature left off before the economic downturn by continuing to let spending spiral out of control” Bittner continued.
Traditionally, budget growth is considered nil when inflation and population growth match or outpace budgeted government spending. For fiscal year 2013, an increase of $933 million amounts to just over 5% growth of the last fiscal year’s budgeted expenditures of $18.4 billion.
“The Republican-controlled legislature has proven once again that the two big parties are nothing more than two wings on the same bird,” stated the Party’s Vice Chairman Doug Harman. “Sadly, those wings seem to be affixed to a vulture, feeding on Georgia citizens’ bank accounts.”
This bill, along with any others to reach the Governor Deal’s desk for approval this year, must be passed by both chambers before the final gavel on Thursday’s Sine Die, signaling the end of the 2011-2012 legislative session.
