Oregon Public Broadcasting

This is a week of uncertainty for people who work for the state of Oregon.

State agencies have until the end of Tuesday to submit their ideas for deep budget cuts. They have to slice nine percent across the board.

Democratic Governor Ted Kulongoski ordered the cuts in response to a half-billion dollar budget shortfall. But as Chris Lehman reports, not every state service will be affected the same way.

When is across-the-board NOT across-the-board?

It may seem like a way to spread the pain around evenly. But the governor only has the authority to trim the general fund budget.

That's the money that comes mostly from you and me paying state income taxes. It's the lifeblood of government services like the Oregon State Police and public schools.

But other agencies don't get much general fund money at all.

Take the Oregon Department of Transportation. Most of the road and rail money in Oregon comes from the gas tax or federal grants. So a nine percent general fund cut translates to less than one-tenth of one percent of the Department of Transportation's overall budget.

Then, there are agencies that rely heavily on money from other state agencies. You could think of it as a bureaucratic trading floor.

One example? The Oregon Department of Justice. Much of its budget comes from fees it charges when other state agencies pick up the phone for legal advice.

If those agencies save money by not calling their attorneys as much, it could mean budget pain for the Justice Department.

Spokesman Tony Green says the agency has only previous downturns to use as a road map this time.

Tony Green: "It's not like you can't plan for it. Certainly, it's not precise. But we do have a sense of how these things tend to play out when state agencies are forced to cut back on their legal budgets."

Things are a little more certain over at the Oregon Ethics Commission. That's because the commission charges set fees to other agencies and local governments and director Ron Bersin doesn't see those going down anytime soon.

Ron Bersin: "I'm not really complaining about the rebalance."

The list of re-balancing budget cuts are expected to go public Wednesday morning. A spokesman for Governor Ted Kulongoski says the lists will be a starting point for additional discussions.

The actual cuts would not go into effect until early July.

On the Web:

Agency Allotment Reductions