{"55517":{"#nid":"55517","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Legislature Supports GT \u0026 USG Priorities","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a legislative session defined by fiscal uncertainty, lawmakers took until the final day of the session to come to a consensus on a budget for FY2011.\u0026nbsp; Passed by both chambers late Thursday, the budget gives favorable consideration to Georgia Tech and the University System of Georgia (USG) in a year when almost every agency will see funding cuts. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the top of Georgia Tech\u2019s budget priority list was $7 million in bond funding to complete and equip the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons.\u0026nbsp; The General Assembly included full funding in the budget to finish the project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETech also advocated for increases in allocations to the USG that would be spread among the system\u2019s institutions.\u0026nbsp; The General Assembly allocated $113 million in response to an original request of $139.8 million in Formula Funds for day to day operations.\u0026nbsp; The legislature also approved funding of a Major Repair and Rehabilitation request of $75 million at $60 million. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s second capital budget priority was for construction of the Eco-Commons water relocation project.\u0026nbsp; The General Assembly allocated $300,000 for the project to cover initial design costs.\u0026nbsp; This incremental approach was also taken on the CULC, which was funded in part by the state over three separate fiscal years and budgets. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThough not all of our budget priorities were fully funded this year, we are pleased with the investments that the General Assembly has made in Tech and the USG,\u201d said Dene Sheheane, Executive Director of Government and Community Relations.\u0026nbsp; \u201cThe funding that has been committed will allow us to grow and position the Institute to\u0026nbsp; help drive the state\u2019s economic recovery.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe FY2011 budget now follows the FY2010 Amended budget, which was agreed to by both chambers last week, to the Governor\u2019s Office.\u0026nbsp; Governor Perdue has until June 8th to approve or veto the budget.\u0026nbsp; He also maintains the ability to veto individual line items. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough the first four legislative priorities set by the Institute directly involved budget allocations, the final item on the list, while non-budgetary, could help with the tight budget year.\u0026nbsp; House Bill 1128 renewed an expiring provision that allows USG institutions to carry forward certain funds from one fiscal year to the next, giving administrators flexibility in Institute budgeting.\u0026nbsp; Securing passage of the bill was Tech\u2019s final legislative priority. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI am very appreciative of our partners in the House and Senate who advocated for Georgia Tech and helped us achieve our priorities,\u201d Sheheane noted.\u0026nbsp; \u201cI also want to thank my GT colleagues, Betsy Jackson and George Ray, for the incredible job they did in positioning Tech for a successful session.\u0026nbsp; I hope that our faculty, staff, alumni, and friends will join our office in thanking the Governor and members of the General Assembly for their support.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"GT capital projects, USG growth and capital improvement requests receive favorable consideration"}],"uid":"27331","created_gmt":"2010-04-30 01:46:35","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:05:53","author":"George Ray","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-04-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-04-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"50863":{"id":"50863","type":"image","title":"State Capitol","body":null,"created":"1449175449","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:44:09","changed":"1475894473","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:13","alt":"State Capitol","file":{"fid":"146036","name":"cap.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cap_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cap_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1556119,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cap_0.jpg?itok=2skrZo10"}}},"media_ids":["50863"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/budgetDocs","title":"House Budget Documents"}],"groups":[{"id":"47398","name":"GCR (Office of Government and Community Relations)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"7784","name":"Georgia General Assembly"},{"id":"8300","name":"Georgia Tech Office of Government and Community Relations"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorge Ray\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProgram Specialist for Government Relations\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:george.ray@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Egeorge.ray@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}