Oct 15, 2009 6:39 pm US/Eastern
State Facing $600M Budget Gap; Gov. Weighs Cuts
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Gov. Deval Patrick is weighing a series of cuts and the possibility of laying off state workers to close a $600 million hole in the current fiscal year state budget.
The spending gap opened up after revenues during the first few months of the fiscal year that began on July 1 fell below original estimates.
"It is unlike anything the Commonwealth has ever had to face" Gov. Patrick told reporters Thursday afternoon.
The governor says he may have to lay off up to 2,000 state workers by the end of the year. But that is only one plan as he tried to fill the budget gap.
The state will also have mandating 9 day furloughs for executive branch managers.
State agencies will be consolidated, hundreds of millions will be cut from agencies and Patrick is asking for expanded powers to cut local aid.
"No quick fixes, no easy choices, no low hanging fruit but we do believe this plan...will help us all get thru and get thru we will," Patrick said.
The governor said he may also go to state lawmakers and ask for special authority to make cuts across other state agencies. Without that authority, Patrick can only cut from the executive branch.
WBZ's Kate Merrill also contributed to this report.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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