On the 31st of March, Georgians for Preservation Action, a group that works in partnership with the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, reported the following:

The Senate Appropriations committee just passed the SFY 2010 budget. The senate committee did add back $100,000 of the $279,000 archaeology budget cut by the house. They then eliminated 2 vacant historic preservation positions (one of which is an archaeology position in the $279,000) for $100,000. This leaves a net balance of $50,000 in the archaeology budget, which is not enough to fund even one position with benefits. The other eliminated position is the architect’s position in the technical services unit who reviews tax act projects, grants and 106 projects. The changes increase the likelihood that Federal and state projects would be delayed in the historic preservation office because of lack of resources and that DNR will have to pay for consultants in order to comply with state and federal law.

The full Senate will vote on April 1st, and the final budget approval is set for Friday, April 3rd.

To read more, and to find out which Senators and House members are on the key committee(s), click here.

For a previous story on this issue, click here.

Posted online on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009