November 18, 2009

The topic of conversation at Wednesday's Wichita Metro Chamber State Issue Forum was the state budget.

Gov. Mark Parkinson was the keynote speaker at Wednesday's lunch. In his address he talked about the state budget crisis and the urgency to make cuts.

Parkinson said $260 million dollars needs to be cut. He said this should be a shared sacrifice, and all areas within the state will be subject to reductions.

"The cuts will be painful but not crippling," said Parkinson.

Cuts in education have been heavily discussed in the recent weeks. Parkinson said he wished cuts could be prevented in our schools, but they are such a large part of the budget, it's impossible to do so.

"Sixty-two percent of our budget is K-12 and universities," said Parkinson. "It's impossible to make major budget cuts without effecting education. So, education will be effected next week," he said.

We asked Parkinson about the possibility of furloughs. He had no comment and said specifics will be given next week.

Parkinson said he's confident we will overcome these budget battles. This will be the fifth cut made to the 2010 budget. After the 2010 budget is balanced, Parkinson said he'll start working on the budget for 2011, which could prove to be even more difficult.