New Senate Higher Ed panel chair Buddy Carter looking for answers - Larry Peterson, Savannah Now

Buddy Carter is the first to acknowledge that he begins his new post as chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee with more questions than answers. Although he has been a trustee of Young Harris College, Carter, a member of the General Assembly since 2005, hasn’t specialized in higher education issues. The biggest issue he and others on his panel will face is what to do about the University System of Georgia’s continuing budget woes. As the state faced several successive years of recession-driven revenue declines, the 35-campus system lost hundreds of millions of dollars. Even though revenue is now trending upward, next year’s budget is likely to be even tighter, Carter said.