Governor's Emergency Fund stirs controversy

ATLANTA - Money for curtains at the Commerce Cultural Center is one example cited by Republicans who are complaining that former Governor Barnes spent most of the remaining money in the Governor's Emergency Fund within two weeks of his re-election defeat in November by Republican Sonny Perdue.

Barnes allocated about $1,400 for the curtains. Barnes declined comment on the matter, but a former aide says the allocations had been approved before the election.

In addition to the Commerce project, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Barnes also approved money for new school band uniforms in several counties; to promote a St. Simons Island fishing tournament; and, to a DeKalb County high school to teach students how to handle tableware.

Of the $967,000 left in the fund when the election was over, Governor Perdue was left with $196,000 to last until the end of the fiscal year in June. When the fiscal year started, in contained nearly four million dollars.