Gov. Jan Brewer’s office may ask state agencies, including universities, to make additional budget cuts in late 2009, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Paul Senseman, a spokesman for the governor’s office, said the cuts might be the only way to cover a shortfall estimated at about $1 billion and growing for the 2010 fiscal year.

As a result, Brewer’s office announced Friday that it is asking all state agencies to explore the impact of a 15 to 20 percent cut later this year.

“At this point, I think it’s safe to say that there’s going to be additional cuts to state services and to state funding,” Senseman said.
The state has reported steep drops in revenue so far this fiscal year — even steeper than forecasted by the state Legislature in January.

According to reports from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, Arizona revenue in July showed about an 18 percent drop from the previous year and was $109 million under the committee’s economic forecast. August saw a drop of 10 percent in state revenue and was $33 million short of the forecast.

The only other way to cover the shortfall, Senseman said, would be to pass Brewer’s proposed sales tax referral, an idea most of the Legislature’s Republican majority has rejected.

“The Legislature has not provided any additional funding,” he said. “[Additional cuts] would be the only other option.”

Senseman said Gov. Brewer would give more leeway to high-priority areas, including education and public safety. But all departments, he said, including the universities, are being asked to examine the impact of a 15 to 20 percent cut and report the results to the governor.

“There remains a very real possibility that [the universities] could be cut again, if not in 2010, then in 2011,” Senseman said.

Andrea Smiley, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Board of Regents, said the board has not yet begun to examine the impact of mid-year cuts.

“We are still assessing this request from the governor and have not yet determined the impact,” Smiley said in an e-mail.

Terri Shafer, an ASU spokeswoman, said additional cuts in that range could disqualify the state from receiving federal stimulus money.

In order to receive stimulus funding, the state must show a “maintenance of effort” by committing to a certain level of funding for education.

“Taking an additional cut of 10 to 15 percent in the [University] budget puts the state below the requirements for the federal stimulus,” Shafer said.

Rudi O’Keefe-Zelman, vice president of policy for Undergraduate Student Government, said state politicians looking at the possibility of further cuts to the universities are missing the big picture.

The universities provide the state with the best chance to recover economically and bring in more revenue, she said.

“The best way to fix the economy in the state of Arizona is to fund higher education,” O’Keefe-Zelman said.

State Rep. Ed Ableser, D-Tempe, said the state’s three universities cannot handle another round of cuts.

“The impact of those cuts on ASU would be devastating,” he said. “I’m shocked they’re even asking the universities to consider something like that … It’s something I’d certainly fight.”

Reach the reporter at derek.quizon@asu.edu.