LANSING – All state departments will start the 2010-11 fiscal year with 20 percent less general fund money than they have for the current year under the budget proposals being developed by the administration of Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Granholm press secretary Liz Boyd confirmed Monday that the departments had been asked to figure on 20 percent cuts. Those plans are due to the governor November 30 to begin internal budget discussions.
“Clearly we’re working on it,” she said of the upcoming budget, which is presented to the Legislature in February.
News of the administration’s request for each department to find 20 percent in cuts came out of Monday’s Commission of Agriculture meeting where commissioners discussed the situation.
The requirement would mean a $6 million cut for the Department of Agriculture, said budget director Amy Epkey.
To balance the current budget, the department is planning another round of layoffs Friday. The 39 people getting pink slipped, including Deputy Director Bob Craig, bring the total layoffs to about 10 percent of the department’s staff, Epkey said.
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