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

(AP) -- Gov. Sonny Perdue has proposed a budget that slashes another $1.2 billion in spending for the fiscal year that ends in June. 

The governor said state employees will be hit with three more unpaid furlough days this year. 

Perdue took the wraps off his budget plan at a state Capitol news conference on Friday. 

Tax revenues in Georgia have declined for 13 consecutive months, depleting state coffers. 

To avoid deep cuts to the Medicaid program for the state's poorest residents, Perdue said he wants hospitals and health insurance plans to pay a 1.6 percent fee on their total revenues. 

For the current fiscal year, the budget shrinks from $18.6 billion to $17.4 billion, under Perdue's plan.

(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)