Facing the prospect of cutting an additional $1 billion to $1.5 billion from the state's two-year budget, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said yesterday that the next round of cuts will include layoffs and reductions in funding for K-12 education.
"I've done a number of layoffs already, and there will be more," Kaine said during his monthly call-in radio show on WRVA (1140 AM) in Richmond.
The governor did not offer a number on how many jobs would be cut. But amid a national recession, he said, layoffs would be necessary to match state expenses with declining revenue.
Kaine will announce the latest round of job reductions and spending cuts during his budget address to the legislature Dec. 17.
Public education will not escape the chopping block this time around.
"There are going to be cuts," he said. "K-12 education is the largest line item in the budget. I can't make things balanced by not touching the education budget."
The governor said his economic team is trying to focus the budget cuts on expenditures outside the classroom rather than classroom resources such as instruction.
Cuts already have been made to higher education and at the state Department of Education. But yesterday, Kaine suggested that he's considering additional spending to provide more money for need-based financial aid to help struggling college students pay for their education.
Virginia's budget shortfall for fiscal 2009-2010 could reach as high as $3.5 billion, according to some official estimates. Turmoil in financial markets, a national mortgage-foreclosure crisis, rising energy costs and increasing unemployment all have played a role in reducing revenue to states. Across the U.S., 41 states face deficits totaling more than $134 billion over the next two years.
On Tuesday, Kaine and fellow governors convened in Philadelphia with President-elect Barack Obama to push for an economic stimulus package for states and localities. Governors want $136 billion up front for transportation infrastructure projects, and increased funding for Medicaid, unemployment insurance and food stamps to meet the demands of an expanding pool of needy Americans.
Kaine said he told Obama that, like state governments do, he should look for areas in the federal budget where he can make cuts, so that when the economy rebounds, it does not have "a lot of ankle weights on" that keep it from growing stronger.
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