NBC 4 Learns Details Of State Budget Cuts

COLUMBUS, Ohio—State budget problems still plague Ohio and some agencies will be forced to cut to keep the state out of the red.

Gov. Ted Strickland ordered $640 million in additional budget cuts in December, NBC 4‘s Patrick Preston reported.

The adjustments are on top of the $1.27 billion in budget cuts announced by Strickland in 2008.

Needing to cut more than $30 million from its budget, the Ohio Department of Education took comfort in having fewer students in the state than originally projected in June 2007.

The reduced student total spared the department from nearly $13.5 million in cuts, but that left nearly $17 to eliminate.

Student assessment was hit hardest, losing more than $3 million.

Another agency forced to cut $30 million from its budget is the Ohio Department of Mental Health, which plans to reduce research funding by $200,000 while the remaining $29.8 million in cuts would come in the form of reduced funding to local mental health care systems.

The agency is scheduled to meet Friday to discuss how to spread the cuts around the state.

Meanwhile, the Department of Aging was asked to drop $10.6 million from its budget. But rather than cut programs, the agency wants to use cash reimbursement from the federal government for its passport Medicaid waiver program to make up the budget shortfall.

The Board of Regents plans to cut $24.8 million by reducing or eliminating a wide array of programs, including nearly $5 million from scholarship programs.

The remaining $20 million would be spread around funding fields such as teaching initiatives, research programs and direct support to schools and universities.

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