Oregon Public Broadcasting

This week's announcement that Oregon's state budget has a $560 million hole in it is drawing shock and dismay from agency directors and school leaders Wednesday.

Governor Ted Kulongoski wants to hear from school districts and state agencies within two weeks about how they would cut nine-percent of their budgets.

Members of the governor's staff suggested that some cuts could be difficult, or even impossible, for agencies with specific legal mandates – like mandatory sentencing rules for the state prison system.

Corrections director, Max Williams raised a warning flag on OPB's Think Out Loud this morning.

Max Williams: "We're not going to be able to make up a $50 million hole at this stage of the biennium without some conversations either with the legislature about policy changes, or deciding to backfill through some other resource." The governor is generally limited to making across the board cuts to state services, though legislators on the Emergency Board can direct a little extra money toward certain agencies.

Making bigger changes would mean calling a special legislative session. The governor is not planning to do that.