[Source: Mary Jo Pitzl, Arizona Republic] – Since mid-2008, legislators have cut $3.4 billion from state spending.
Most of the cuts were lump-sum reductions. Rather than get into the nitty-gritty of myriad state programs, lawmakers left the details to state agencies. And those agencies responded to the smaller budgets in a variety of ways – from imposing fees on users to ending some services.
The agencies also had to adjust to the consequences of programs being terminated, from juggling lawsuits to referring people to non-profits or other groups that might be able to fill the gaps.
The following examples detail ways state government has responded to a budget that is 20 percent smaller than what it was four years ago [to read the full article click here].