State agencies all facing deep cuts as budget talks begin

Law enforcement and courts will not only lose employees, but they may also lose facilities and programs. Among the recommendations were the closing of courthouses in Bountiful and Roosevelt, not opening a new wing at the Gunnison Prison, and stopping funding for the Drug Offender Reform Act.

One of the larger targets for cuts in Huntsman's proposed budget was road construction, but legislators are not as supportive of canceling or postponing projects. Instead, they are wanting to reduce maintenance costs and postpone some safety projects on road.

Some of the other proposed cuts were:

• Layoff up to 1,500 college and university employees. It would be up to each institution to make the specific decisions about which employees, courses, or even majors to eliminate. The staff did recommend some possible targets, such as the nursing program at Snow College.

• Cut more than $250 million from public education. Again, it would be up to the state's 41 school districts to decide how to take those reductions, but most districts would likely have to lay off teachers, maybe even close some under-utilized schools.

• Thirty beds would be lost at the State Hospital, and those mentally-ill patients turned over to county mental health programs.

• Attorney General Mark Shurtleff would have to lay off 36 attorneys and support staff.

• State prisons would lose staff, many juvenile offenders would be double-bunked, and the new wing of the Gunnison Prison would remain closed, at least for now, with no money to hire new staff. That, in turn, could lead to some early release of current inmates because of overcrowding.

• The state would close its aircraft division and lay off the pilots. The planes are used by state officials and legislators to travel the state, to save drive time.

• The State Tax Commission would have to lay off auditors and investigators, meaning less recovered taxes due (which could cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue). Utahns tax refund checks could be delayed.

• Dozens of civic and art organizations would get less grant money, and a few state-funded-only art programs would be eliminated.

• The Huntsman Cancer Center, the research/hospital institution at the University of Utah set up by the governor's father and mother would receive nearly $2 million less than anticipated.

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Contributing: Laura Hancock, Wendy Leonard, Amy K. Stewart, James Thalman, Linda Thomson

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com