Lawmakers told fat has been cut and that Nebraska budget knife would hurt education programs

Nebraska lawmakers told no more fat to cut

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska lawmakers have been told that the fat has been cut and the next step is to trim and eliminate programs in the Department of Education to help close a large state-budget gap.

Nebraska Education Commissioner Roger Breed described to the Legislature’s Education Committee on Thursday the possible effects of cutting state-funded programs in the department by 10 percent. Among the options are reducing both the number of disabled people who get help from the department to join the work force, and students who take statewide writing tests.

“There’s no one that supports these cuts,” Breed told the committee of the options he presented. “We’re now down to the point we’re having to eliminate programs,” he said later.

The Education Committee will later decide whether to include those options on its list of budget-cutting suggestions for the full Legislature to consider when it convenes in January. Legislative committees are identifying possible cuts totaling 10 percent of state general-fund appropriations for all agencies under their purview.

The cumulative list will help the Legislature when it begins addressing a budget gap fiscal analysts have said could be several hundred million dollars during the next two-year budget cycle.

Breed told lawmakers that cutting the vocational rehabilitation program for disabled people by about $354,000 would trigger the loss of up to $1.3 million in federal funds.

Giving statewide writing assessments that help educators measure student progress to just one grade level instead of the current three — fourth, eighth and 11th grades — would save about $200,000.

Online:

www.education.ne.gov/