Golden hails state funding for Senate District 8

Governor signs budget with $17 million in local appropriations                  

May 15, 2008 – More than $17 million in state funding for projects in Senate District 8 is included in the $21 billion fiscal year 2009 budget signed into law Wednesday by Governor Sonny Perdue.

“As secretary of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am very pleased that these direct line item expenditures made it through the entire legislative budget process and received final approval by the Governor,” Golden said. “These appropriations will be of significant benefit to the people and communities of Brooks, Cook, Lowndes and Thomas counties.”

The allocations for Senate District 8 in the budget legislation (HB 990) include the following:

• $12.76 million, secured by Sen. John Bulloch (R-Ochlocknee) and me for a classroom building at Southwest Georgia Technical College in Thomasville.
• $4.075 million for design and construction for the renovation of Nevins Hall to become the math and computer science building at Valdosta State University.
• $600,000 to replace boilers at Southwestern State Hospital in Thomasville.
• A total of $215,550 to add one veterans’ benefits counselor position to each of six Veterans Service Offices, including the one in Valdosta. Pete Wheeler, Commissioner of Veterans Services, said, “The demand for services from our field offices and staff is increasing every year. In order to meet that demand, there is no substitute for the additional personal attention that is required by our veteran’s benefits and claims staff personnel in order to adequately meet our veterans’ needs.”
• $150,000 in additional funds for a planning grant for the Georgia Wellness Incentive Pilot Program, which will benefit the Lowndes County Partnership for Health. Mark Wilson, vice president for human resources at Langdale Industries, has said that wellness incentives can be a powerful tool to solve our health care crisis. Langdale has saved more than $3 million in health care costs with its wellness incentive program.
• $10,000 to the City of Quitman for assistance with rehabilitating the former City Hall and Police Department building to provide space for the Quitman campus of Valdosta Technical College.
• $10,000 to Cook County to replace a boiler and air conditioning unit at the Cook County Library.
• $10,000 to Reed Bingham State Park to build an observation deck.
• $10,000 to the City of Valdosta to assist with a broad scale study to gauge the existence and perception of existence of barriers to people with disabilities in access to public and private buildings and businesses.
• $5,000 to the City of Adel to help renovate the old Adel Post Office into a museum.

The only local budget item approved by the legislature that was not signed by the Governor was a $1 million allocation for rail lines for the St. Augustine Road Rail Switching Yard expansion, part of a $7.7 million statewide veto of bond funding for railroad improvement funding.

“I am disappointed over this line-item veto because it is a significant project for Valdosta,” Golden said. “But overall, the budget includes more than $17 million for capital projects and other needs in our district.”

In addition to his leadership position on the powerful Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for the state budget, Golden is a senior member of the influential Senate Finance Committee, which handles tax-related legislation. He also serves on the Higher Education, Insurance & Labor and Government Oversight committees and is chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus. Golden is running unopposed for his sixth term in the Senate.