Georgia Senate budget targets public media, cyber center

FILE - Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery speaks in the Senate chamber at the Georgia state Capitol, March 31, 2021, in Atlanta. Tillery's committee passed a bill that cuts higher education funding as part of a larger dispute. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

Beyond cutting overall university and college spending, a Georgia Senate budget proposal also targets Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center in Augusta.

The budget passed the Senate on Thursday on a 51-1 vote has mainly drawn attention for a $105 million proposed cut to teaching and health insurance funds for the state’s 26 public universities and colleges.

But the spending plan also proposes a $5.1 million cut to Augusta University’s Cyber Center, out of $5.5 million in direct state funds. There’s also a $3.7 million cut to the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, the state agency that oversees GPB. That’s out of $14.2 million in state funds.