Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who earlier asked state agencies to cut their fiscal 2009 budgets by 2%, last week increased her request to 3% after the latest budget forecast estimates the state will have a deficit of $137 million by June.
Sebelius said the additional 1% cut would reduce state expenditures by $60 million.
She also told agencies to make recommendations for lowering spending by an additional 5% in fiscal 2010, which begins in July, and said deeper reductions may be required in the future.
The Democratic governor said Kansas agencies already have frozen hiring and halted equipment purchases to avoid layoffs.
“I haven’t taken anything off the table between now and January,” Sebelius said. “I’m going to continue to pursue a wide variety of options, some of which may have to wait until the Legislature returns.”
The 2009 session will begin in January.
