Deadline for Kentucky Agencies to Submit Budget Cuts is Today

From Kentucky Public Radio's Tony McVeighIt’s D-Day for state agencies in Kentucky, which must report how they intend to reduce their budgets by four-percent. Proposed cuts could affect the Department of Veterans Affairs.Veterans Affairs Director Les Beavers sees no way to reduce his agency’s budget by four-percent without furloughs or layoffs. And he fears how that will affect three state nursing homes housing five-hundred Kentucky veterans."It’s a hard area where you can reduce staff," says Beavers, "and obviously, to save money, most often it deals with the amount of staff you have onboard."Beavers says all effort will be made to protect direct caregivers, like nurses, but administrative and support staff cuts are likely unavoidable. Governor Beshear, who’s dealing with a projected 456-million dollar revenue shortfall this fiscal year, wants state agencies and universities to tell him today how they intend to reduce spending by four-percent. The governor will use agency proposals to craft a plan for addressing the shortfall.