ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers trying to hack $2.6 billion from the state’s budget have grown frustrated with the state’s higher education system, which they say hasn’t borne its fair share of the cuts.
Angry legislators have made veiled threats and introduced a handful of proposals aimed at exerting more control. The first, which passed the House 158-1 last week, could slow an effort by the technical college system to merge its campuses by requiring legislative approval first.
It comes on the heels of attempts to cut funding to professors with expertise in sexuality topics such as “queer theory” and “male prostitution” and a separate cost-cutting measure to force the state’s historically Black colleges to merge with nearby mostly White campuses.
Administrators say the proposals are misguided. A spokesman for the Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s 35 public colleges and universities, said the system was suffering from a “misperception” among legislators because it was making cuts while avoiding furloughs.
Spokesman John Millsaps said the regents have shed roughly 10 percent of the budget — totaling $219 million — by laying off about 60 employees, shedding dozens of unfilled positions and shifting more health insurance costs to the employees. Millsaps said the third element alone, which is saving some $35 million, equals to about 17 days of furloughs.
“The chancellor did not want to make temporary decisions for permanent changes,” said Millsaps. “The board has certainly not been exempt from the cuts, and we haven’t asked to be exempt from the cuts.”
Yet the higher education system, like other state agencies, isn’t done cutting. Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue on Tuesday recommended slashing $20.4 million from the regents and $2.5 million from the tech schools to help make up for falling revenue.
And there’s sentiment among some legislators that the regents should consider other ways to cut funding.
