Latest news, weather and high school sports for Albany and Southwest Georgia

Gov. Sonny Perdue says Georgia is facing a $2.2 billion budget shortfall that will make deep cuts necessary across state government.

In his State of the State address to a joint session of the Georgia Legislature, Perdue called Wednesday for legislators to
maintain an optimistic perspective "even in the face of difficult economic cycles."  But he allowed the "job of budget cutting is hard right now."  Perdue says cutting 10 percent of the budget cannot be accomplished merely by cutting waste.  He is calling for the state to pull the maximum amount it can from its $1.2 billion in reserve funds.  Perdue called on legislators to "maintain a long-term perspective."

Albany City Commissioner Roger Marietta was intrigued by the Governor Perdue's bonus proposal for teachers, but expressed concern that the money “would come from the same school systems that are saving money.”  Marietta said he was confident that the southwest Georgia delegation would do a good job of delivering funds to the area.