[71] Despite initially having a cool reception in the legislature, the plan was passed at midnight on the last day of the session.[72] He ultimately merged about 300 state agencies into 22, although it is disputed that there were any overall cost savings from doing so.[73] On July 8, 1971, during an appearance in Columbus, Georgia, he stated his intent to establish a Georgia Human Rights Council to help solve issues within the state ahead of any potential violence.[74]
In a news conference on July 13, 1971, Carter announced his ordering of department heads to reduce spending for the aid of preventing a $57 million deficit by the end of the 1972 fiscal year, specifying that each state department would be impacted and estimating that 5 percent over government revenue would be lost if state departments continued full using allocated funds.[75] On January 13, 1972, Carter requested the state legislature to provide funding for an early childhood development program along with prison reform programs and $48 million (equivalent to $310,949,881 in 2021) in paid taxes for nearly all state employees.