More bad budget news

 Gov. John Baldacci will announce his plan for temporary spending restrictions today (Friday), almost a year to the day of the 2008 curtailment.

 In fact, on Nov. 19 of last year, Baldacci signed an executive order to cut spending by nearly $80 million. Most of it came from Human Services ($31 million) and Education ($28 million). At the time, DHHS said $25 million of the $31 million was not related to services or programs, much to the relief of social service agencies.

 And, the Education cuts were eventually backfilled by federal funds, so those weren't as dire as originally predicted.

 But don't expect such good news this time around. DHHS Commissioner Brenda Harvey said earlier this week that there's no way to find savings without hitting programs and although superintendents have been working with the state for months on cuts, I'm not sure there's going to be a way to prevent some school-level changes.

 Last year, higher education took some hits too.

 What's important to remember about the curtailment is that it is only for executive branch agencies, so the Legislature and Judiciary aren't part of the cuts at this point. But as KJ Reporter Betty Adams reported today, the Judicial Branch is looking to cut $4.3 million over the next 20 months.

 As for the actual size of the state budget deficit, it's been pegged between $300 million and $400 million. Revenue Forecasters are meeting today to refine the number (it sounds like it will be close to $400 million), but a final report isn't expected until later this month or early December.