Lt. Governor Casey Cagle today launched a statewide grassroots initiative encouraging everyday Georgians to seek out and report wasteful spending by local, state and federal government agencies.

The initiative is built around the www.cutwaste.org website which offers citizens the opportunity to report wasteful spending at the local, state and federal level. The Lt. Governor will review incoming waste reports, investigate them further, and take action to eliminate waste identified through the project.

“Unlike the federal government, Georgia is required to constitutionally balance our budget. This is a great feature of our state constitution because it forces state elected officials to make hard decisions when tax collections drop in a slow economy,” said Cagle.

“Cutting millions in state spending is never an easy process. We must continue to provide such critical services as transportation, education, and law enforcement. This means it is essential that we find specific ways to do more for less with taxpayer dollars. Governor Sonny Perdue and our legislators have done a great job in this area on several fronts, but I believe Georgia’s citizens can also play a role in this effort, both by reporting waste and by suggesting new ways to make government more efficient,” said Cagle.

In addition to the website, Cagle began running public service announcements in Georgia urging citizens to identify government waste and report it. These advertisements are funded exclusively by voluntary donations from private citizens and businesses. They will continue running for the remainder of this year, in an effort to identify new ways for state and local governments to save funds in the face of severe budget shortfalls. Additionally, citizens will be able to use the mechanism to report federal waste, which will be shared with federal elected officials.

Tags: environment