Tight budget cuts deep; DOT, schools & hospitals heavily affected -- Buckle your seat belts for a long, contentious legislative session.

James Salzer writes in the AJC:

Gov. Sonny Perdue has proposed a budget that would likely lead to higher property taxes, as well as a loss of state facilities in small-town Georgia, fewer school nurses and the elimination of hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs.

One of the few positives lawmakers saw in Perdue’s budget plan for fiscal year 2010, which begins July 1, was his proposal to borrow $1.2 billion for construction and infrastructure projects. Perdue claims it would create 20,000 jobs. Lawmakers will probably push to borrow even more.