Levels of pain if revenues fail
Lawmakers want furloughs instead of more layoffs
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Community college students, already facing a 38 percent increase in course fees, will be among the first to pay the price if state revenues come up short next year. Next will be rural and urban students, who’ll lose their bus rides to school. Then, finally, teachers and staff at K-12 schools, who may be docked as much as 3.5 percent in pay though additional furlough days.
The state budget that Democrats in the Legislature passed late Tuesday by majority vote – with no Republican support and no votes to spare in the Senate – layers a series of budget cuts if the $4 billion in extra revenue that Democrats built into the budget