From higher tuition to less lawn-mowing, Nebraska agencies describe effects of budget cuts

Neb. agencies describe effects of budget cuts

LINCOLN, Neb. — Layoffs, fewer health care services for poor children and the elderly, dirtier state buildings and higher tuition at the University of Nebraska are some of the possible effects of budget cuts approved by lawmakers.

The consequences of cuts approved during a special legislative session are outlined in 77 separate reports from state agencies released on Tuesday. Lawmakers requested the reports in November when they carved $334 million from the current, two-year state budget after revenues came in less than expected.

State senators were still poring over the hundreds of pages of reports late Tuesday to measure the overall impact of the cuts. But a review of the documents by The Associated Press showed that most agencies don’t expect to cut or substantially change key programs.

The long list of nips and tucks, however, will be noticed by some. There will be fewer loans for medical students, less training for people who deal with hazardous materials, and fewer academic courses at the three state colleges.

There will be fewer classes and courses will be offered less frequently, adding to the time it may take students to earn a degree, said Stan Carpenter, chancellor of the Nebraska State College System, in his report to lawmakers. Fifty positions in the three-college system will be eliminated, 22 of them with layoffs.

The agencies’ reports point to more than 200 jobs, from janitors to top-level administrators, that could eliminated or left vacant, but the figure could be higher because some agencies said it was unclear how many they might have to cut.

Also unclear is exactly how many of the positions that will be eliminated are currently filled.

At the University of Nebraska, President J.B. Milliken said it may be June before officials there know the impact on staff.

He said tuition may increase because the university will get $24 million less than originally budgeted from the state this year and next.

“Historically, when appropriations have gone down, tuition has gone up — sometimes substantially,” Milliken said in his written report to lawmakers.

The state’s largest agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, plans to eliminate nearly 40 administrative positions, most of them now vacant.

Officials say many of the changes planned by the department won’t effect services. For example, $10 million originally budgeted for the troubled Beatrice State Developmental Center to replace federal funding won’t be needed because of the timing of the decertification.

But some reductions could create problems.

Next fiscal year, the department plans to nix a planned increase in pay rates to those who provide medical services to poor children, the elderly, and people with developmental disabilities, among others. The move will save $14.6 million.

Keeping the rates flat next fiscal year could convince health care providers to back out of the programs and “may affect access to services for some individuals and families,” department CEO Kerry Winterer said in his report to state senators.

The message sent by the Department of Roads was echoed by many other agencies: “No reduction in essential services in the short term.”

Instead, many agencies plan to take steps that may not affect the day-to-day lives of many Nebraskans.

The state Department of Administrative Services, for example, plans to reduce janitorial services, lawn-mowing and groundskeeping at state-owned buildings.

On the Net:

Budget reports: www.budget.state.ne.us/