State legislators are split on the governor’s proposed $300 million budget cuts, which would mean a $42 million slash in the budgets of Iowa’s regent schools.

Facing a sluggish economy and flat tax income, Gov. Tom Vilsack proposed the cut last week, sparking concern among some legislators and gaining support from others.

“I think a significant part of [the budget cuts] will go toward the universities, because there is nowhere else to go,” said Sen. Johnie Hammond, D-Ames.

Joe Shannahan, press secretary for the governor, said Vilsack wants to spread the cuts evenly. He refused further comment.

Hammond said a few areas will not be affected by the 6 percent cut, including aid to local school districts, money for a new teacher pay plan and about $8 million for programs to prevent abuse. Once those things are set aside, some legislators argued, there isn’t much left to cut.

“If you exempt K-12 education, that’s 40 percent of our budget,” said Speaker of the House Rep. Brent Siegrist, R-Council Bluffs. “It’s going to be a real difficult choice to make. People who depend on taxpayers’ money are going to be hurt.”

Budget cuts are caused by the economy crunch, he said. The state will see a 0.7 percent growth this upcoming fiscal year, he said, making this worse than the farm crisis of the 1980s. The slower-than-predicted growth has forced the governor to resubmit a balanced budget, said Jane Greimann, D-Ames.

“One of the reasons we are not bringing in enough funds is that the Legislature has given $800 million per year in tax cuts to the citizens over the last few years,” she said. “Our tax base depends too much on manufactured goods and not enough on the very profitable service sector of our state. A heavier dependence on an income tax might bring in more money to the state.”

Siegrist said the budget shortcoming is not due to mismanagement. Instead of seeking short-term solutions, he said, legislators need to bite the bullet and cut where it is needed. However, other legislators are concerned about increased demands on state programs coupled with budget cuts.

“To ask state government agencies to continue doing more and more with less and less is unfair and demoralizing,” Greimann said.

Rep. David Millage, R-Bettendorf, does not think the regent schools will suffer greatly from the state cut because they get their money from a variety of sources.

“If one of these gets cut, they call it a budget cut,” he said. “In reality, another one of their revenue sources could be going up. The regents are treated very well.”

This year, Millage said, both the University of Iowa and Iowa State saw a huge jump in the amount of money collected for tuition, balancing out any cuts from any other source.

If the money is not there, said Rep. Barbara Finch, R-Ames, budgets need to be trimmed.

“The money is not coming in,” she said. “Departments should know this and adjust accordingly. They need to cut expenditures that may not be necessary, like traveling expenses.”

Finch also said the economy as a whole is going through a hard time right now and everything is getting hit hard.

However, other legislators question the message the cuts send to Iowa’s students.

“It sends the message that Iowa doesn’t pay attention to higher education as much as we say we do,” Hammond said. “We don’t always do what we are going to say we do.”

Siegrist said nobody wants to raise taxes in the state, and legislators are hoping the economy in Iowa will turn around before the next fiscal year. In the meantime, they will continue to search for a compromise.

“We have already placed too great a burden on the students at Iowa State by raising their tuition,” Greimann said. “I will continue to be an advocate for adequate funding for my alma mater.”