Iowa State will have to absorb an $18.6-million budget cut after Gov. Tom Vilsack announced Thursday that this year’s state budget will be stripped by more than $108 million.

Nearly every state agency was asked to set aside 7 percent of its operating budget. The three regent universities – Iowa State, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa – face a $46.9-million cut.

The governor’s proposed $300-million budget overhaul includes this year’s $108-million cut and trims $200 million from next year’s state budget. The proposal hits Iowa State as it wrestles with skyrocketing tuition and record enrollment.

“The budget cuts will be absolutely devastating to the university,” said ISU President Gregory Geoffroy. “. We really don’t know yet what will happen. A budget task force was appointed in early September to deal with the budget cuts, but we didn’t know at that point about these latest cuts.”

The governor’s recommendation will be put before the Legislature when it reconvenes in mid-January, said Rep. Jane Greimann, D-Ames. She said Vilsack has the support of both parties.

“This is a difficult time,” she said. “We recognize that difficult decisions have to be made. Nobody wants to make these decisions.”

The state Legislature cut Iowa State’s budget by $15.8 million last spring. With the new round of cuts, Iowa State has lost nearly $35 million in state funding this year.

Vilsack said the slowing economy called for the cuts.

“During this budget year, we must bring spending in line with revenues, while preserving and building upon the progress we’ve made in education, health care, public safety and the environment,” Vilsack said in a statement. “. Keeping our state’s budget in balance also will allow Iowa to contribute to a more robust national economy that protects all our citizens.”

Since the first round of legislative cuts last spring, ISU student leaders have been lobbying to keep the upcoming tuition proposal low.

The Board of Regents, state of Iowa, will vote on the 2002-2003 tuition increase in November. The board’s projected tuition increase has hovered between 15 and 18 percent.

Andy Tofilon, president of the Government of the Student Body, said the multi-million dollar budget cuts will make it harder to convince the regents to keep the tuition increase low.

“This will ultimately reduce access at the regent schools,” he said. “Students will be hit hard, whether it be in cutting back of services or in the form of a tuition increase.”

Instead of a second round of state agency budget cuts, Tofilon said the fat should be cut from the government’s spending. State spending on Vision Iowa projects – such as the rainforest construction project – is slowing Iowa’s economy, he said.

However, Tofilon said he has no plans to abandon his campaign for affordable education.

“This is going to solidify the reasons to raise the tuition increase,” he said, “but we need to make sure that [the regents] only raise it a slight amount.”