I heard about this yesterday afternoon when someone e-mailed me an Insider Advantage article, but with the bailout bill begin voted on it in the Senate, it sort of got pushed to the side.

Legislators will give up their personal pork projects, referred to as “Local Assistance Grants,” in January due to the budget shortfall:

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson issued separate statements Wednesday announcing the fate of the grants, mostly for school systems and local governments. The items are pet projects of lawmakers who select them for inclusion in the budget package.

"As we face a significant budget shortfall in our state, the Senate is working to identify essential government spending, prioritize that spending and find further efficiencies," Cagle said. "Local assistance grants should not be exempt from consideration, and I look forward to working with senators on this issue."
[…]
While communities are counting on them, both Cagle and Richardson said the state can’t afford them right now.

"Although local assistance grants are important to local communities, we cannot ignore the budget shortfall and must hold back this money until January when we will re-prioritize based on the limited resources available." Richardson said.

I like what State Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) said about the grants, "I believe that we should eliminate all of them. The critical needs of the people of Georgia should come first. These are 'wants' and not 'needs'.”

The move is largely symbolic. These grants, which are not the only pork in the budget, should be eliminated. They are things that either should be funded by local government or provided by the private sector. They are used by legislators to say to constituents that they are bringing home the bacon.

I have no doubt that once the economy recovers LAGs will make their way back into the budget. If they do, leadership in both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly should provide greater transparency to taxpayers as to which legislator is requesting the LAG.

Taxpayers deserve no less than to know how their money is being spent and who is spending it.

You can read some about the pork in the budget here and here.