Recovering Ga. economy won’t heal all needs
By Maggie Lee, The Macon Telegraph | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Still,
Recession is not quite an in-or-out thing. It's one of the steps in an economic cycle that also includes recovery and expansion, said
As the state's official forecaster, he told
Whether it's recovery or expansion coming over the next year, it does not mean a lot of new dollars for
The state's income will be something approaching
But
Among the first demands are growing bills
The other main outlay is the roughly
Politics and policy both will ensure that K-12 education is the first priority for new money, he predicted.
"I could see another
That magnitude of money starts to get
And still more applicants
"I think we will continue to invest in education," said state Rep.
But given the economic upswing, O'Neal also said he thinks there's an appetite in his caucus for potential new spending that can undergird job growth, which besides education could include infrastructure projects like the port deepening at
But he's also been in office long enough to remember the latest peak of state economic health, in 2007, and to have been thankful for the
"Without that, I don't know what would have happened," O'Neal said. If there's some new money to spend, "personally, I kind of err on the side of putting it in the savings account."
State Rep.
"I think it's important to have a well-stocked reserve," he said.
Besides the rainy day fund, Peake named three "critical" areas that need proper resources: education, law enforcement and
"Some of the cuts we've made have made us more efficient," Peake said.
But there's a road constituency in the state Legislature too.
A joint
"
"
A part of the gas tax now worth about
"I think there's an appetite to move that fourth penny," said Harper, adding that he expects legislation on it next year.
By his math, that's only a portion of what
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