"Looming education cuts will shrink public access to community colleges, trigger more layoffs and could deprive Utah classrooms of crucial resources, officials told legislative appropriations subcommittees Wednesday.

'It is very likely that the Board of Regents will have to declare a financial emergency for one or more institutions, damaging our state's reputation for its commitment to education which has its own set of long-term consequences,' Commissioner of Higher Education William Sederburg wrote in letter to appropriations subcommittee members."