The University is not alone in its budget woes. The 12 percent reduction in state funding the University will suffer next year is only a small part of sweeping cuts that will hit state agencies in Virginia over the next two years, affecting everything from community colleges to the parole board. Gov. Mark R. Warner announced the broad outlines of the cuts in a televised speech on Tuesday and has continued to release details throughout the week.
Almost every state agency is affected. Most departments will see a 15 percent cut in both the fiscal year 2003 and 2004, the maximum Warner was allowed to impose under state law, with the average at about 11 percent. The cuts total more than $857 million over two years.
Warner said in his speech that he was protecting several areas from cuts.
"Our priorities are clear in what we have protected from cuts, at least for now -- state police and local sheriffs, basic state support for public schools, long-term care for the elderly and disabled, and health care for low-income Virginians," he said.
Warner also has spared need-based financial assistance for college students, the state children's insurance plan, foster care and adoption, and direct and community-based health care, Warner spokeswoman Ellen Qualls said.
Virginia State and Norfolk State Universities, two historically black colleges, also are exempt from funding cuts because of an agreement the state has with the federal Office of Civil Rights, Qualls said.
"In the end, we have tried to maintain direct services to people as our first priority," Warner said.
That means many of the cuts went to administrative bodies such as the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Programs such as pollution prevention and health education also will suffer.
State funding for local libraries and education TV and radio, as well as for museums and the arts, all will be reduced by 15 percent.
Tuesday's cuts, although they are substantial, go only a little over halfway to eliminating the deficit in the 2003-2004 budget, currently anticipated to be at least $1.5 billion. Warner will find ways to make up the remaining money before he presents his budget proposal to the General Assembly in January, Qualls said.
An economy that continued to sink this spring resulted in the largest decline in state revenues in at least 40 years, Warner said on Tuesday, making these reductions necessary. They come on top of $3.8 billion in cuts last year that were necessary to balance the 2001-2002 budget.
Tuesday's cuts mean that the Commonwealth will lay off 1,837 employees over the next two years, not including layoffs by colleges and universities, according to Warner's Web site. Higher education institutions will let go perhaps another 4,500 employees.
The largest reduction of any single agency's budget in this round of cuts went to the Department of Motor Vehicles, at $45.5 million over two years.
"Virginians are going to see a different DMV," DMV spokeswoman Pam Goheen said.
The DMV will have to close regional customer service centers and reduce hours, resulting in longer drives and longer lines for customers, Goheen said.
State mental health services also will experience cutbacks, said Martha Mead, director of legislation and public relations for Virginia's Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services.
The Department will see a 15 percent cut in its administrative budget in both 2003 and 2004.
State funding for community-based mental health services will drop by 10 percent in 2003 and 2004, increasing the demand at state mental hospitals, Mead said.
In-home support for mentally retarded Virginians will decrease, as well as substance abuse treatment programs, she said.
Despite her agency's budget reductions, Mead said Warner's cuts are fair.
"The governor was trying to address the budget reductions in the fairest way he could," she said. "The governor made sure direct care was exempt."
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