Budget Shortfall Forces Va. to Cut Hundreds of Jobs

Several camps for at-risk youths will be closed. The Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville will not open on Sundays and Mondays to save $152,000 annually. State fire marshals are being told to work fewer hours. Virginia is also borrowing money to pay for $250 million in ongoing capital projects.

Based on revised revenue estimates, Kaine said he is now projecting a 4 percent decline in revenue in the current fiscal year -- the steepest in at least 40 years. In 2002, when the state was dealing with the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, revenue declined 3 percent. It dropped less than 1 percent in 1991, when the country was in a recession.

The new estimates project that revenue will grow by 3.6 percent in fiscal 2010 after having been forecast to grow by 6.8 percent.

House Majority Whip M. Kirkland Cox (R-Colonial Heights) said that Republicans are eager to work with Kaine to find savings but that he fears the budget problems are even worse.

"I think it is going to be at least $3 billion," Cox said. "I think we are in for a very tough year."

The cuts to higher education, which range from 5 to 7 percent for each institution, are unlikely to have an immediate impact on quality, said Kaine, adding that he did not think they would affect tuition.

Leonard Sandridge, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the University of Virginia, said the college's $10.5 million cut will probably mean some unfilled jobs and reduced administrative costs.

"We will be diligent in our efforts to try to adjust to those cuts in a way that protects quality and protects services," Sandridge said.

Legislative analysts said the cuts will have the greatest impact on the Department of Corrections, which will lose more jobs than any other agency.

Kaine said the Pulaski and Southampton correctional centers and several other detention facilities will be closed and the inmates will be transferred to other locations.

Fifteen counselors -- one at every major correctional center -- will be laid off, and probation officers will have less money to conduct drug tests on offenders on parole or probation.

The cuts could have been much worse had Kaine not decided to use money from the state's $1 billion "rainy day" reserve. But the fund might be tapped again in January when lawmakers and Kaine figure out how to close the remaining shortfall.

Kaine said the extent of the budget problem will mean that the next rounds of cuts could be far more painful, including cuts to local government, social programs and schools.

"Things left untouched in '09 are going to be examined" next year, Kaine said. He said he has no plans to seek a tax increase, but some interest groups affected by the cutting may push for one.

Kitty J. Boitnott, president of the Virginia Education Association, noted that the General Assembly has approved a number of tax cuts or credits in recent years.

"In this time of crisis, we should look at all aspects of the budget, not just spending," Boitnott said.

But Kaine said legislators should also use the shortfall as an opportunity to scrutinize state laws and policies to find changes that would result in more lasting savings, such as reviewing reforms to the prison system.

"You can't come in and eliminate Post-it notes and paper clips to balance this budget," House Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong (D-Henry) said.