On Friday, June 26th, Senator Tony Foriest held a town hall meeting at the Caswell County Senior Center in Yanceyville. Members of the local community of all ages participated in a question and answer session with Senator Foriest. The majority of questions and ideas were centered on more than $4 billion budget shortfall projected for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.
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“We have to spend less than we did before,” said Senator Foriest. “But the great question is – what do we cut? No one has called me to say ‘Oh, I don’t need that money, why don’t you give it to someone else?’”
One attendee asked Senator Foriest about why the lottery cannot fund education, noting that the Governor has diverted lottery funds to fill ever-increasing gaps in the state budget. Senator Foriest responded that “the lottery isn’t going to pay the bill”. Approximately $350 million of the $11 billion education budget last year came from lottery funds, explained Foriest.
He continued to say that the budget crunch has forced the Senate to search for places where efficiency and productivity can be increased. As Co-Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education and Higher Education, Senator Foriest understands the need to look at ways to make public education across the state more effective without raising the price tag.
“We are in a changing economy. Manufacturing, farming, textiles – that is what made us. That is changing – most people are not going to be doing those jobs anymore and we need to make sure they can learn the necessary skills for working in a service-based economy. The blacksmith probably didn’t like it when cars started to be built – but change was a good thing. We cannot lose site of the importance of education.”