Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon lawmakers are preparing to hear more bad budget news next week. Governor Ted Kulongoski sent them a letter Tuesday saying he expects that state revenues to be off by as much as $500 million.

State economist Tom Potiowsky told the governor that key economic indicators have been weaker than expected. Potiowsky's analysis says that could mean an additional drop of $200 to $500 million in expected revenues.

That would add up to a total of a billion dollars less than what the state expected to have at the start of the current budget cycle.

Governor Kulongoski brought the budget back into balance earlier this summer by ordering across the board cuts. Now, he's considering that tactic again.

House Speaker Dave Hunt says lawmakers should tap into the state's Rainy Day Fund to head off additional cuts.

Dave Hunt: "We've made a massive amount of budget cuts. State funded agencies are doing far more with less. And yet there are very few places where additional cuts can be made."

The exact amount of the additional shortfall won't be known until next week. Some, but not all, of the gap will be offset by a recent infusion of federal cash approved by Congress.