Fresh Loaf

Ah, civility. It’s a beautiful thing, ya know?

Gov. Sonny Perdue and Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears headed off a legal battle today when the two sides reached a compromise about state judges’ funding.

The governor, pointing to revenue collections that have been less-than-positive thanks to a hellish economy, recently ordered state departments to cut 25 percent from their June budgets. He issued the same ultimatum to the judicial branch.

Not so fast, Sears said. She pointed to the Georgia Constitution, that dusty old document which clearly states that the judicial and executive branches are separate. The issue became a bone of contention between the two branches. Just yesterday, Perdue said he’d withhold the funds and warned the judges against filing a lawsuit.

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Lawmakers learn from their failures, right?

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle yesterday told a crowd of 400 mobility-minded businesspeople, politicians and lobbyists at a luncheon sponsored by the Get Georgia Moving coalition and the Council For Quality Growth that a regional sales tax for transportation fixes — or T-SPLOST — would be given priority consideration when the General Assembly convenes in January.

The tax would be similar to a local option sales tax and allow Georgians — if the measure passes and is approved as a constitutional referendum on the 2010 ballot — to vote on a list of predetermined projects such as road, rails and bridges. Cagle said stakeholders in the coming weeks needed to reach a consensus for the proposal to be considered at the start of the legislative session.

Georgia Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle
(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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