Saying it was clear that the national economic situation would hurt state revenues, Governor Jennifer Granholm said in a Thursday press conference that she would issue an executive order cutting the 2008-09 budget this year.  Ms. Granholm said she did not know how much the executive order cuts would total, but sources said the administration is estimating cuts will total between $300 million and $600 million.

The decision on the amount of the cut will be decided after the University of Michigan 's Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics is held later this month, Ms. Granholm said.

Cuts to the current budget had been expected, and administration officials had recently said that discussions with department directors over preparing for potential cuts had been growing more intense.

"It's very clear we will have a very challenging year ahead of us," Ms. Granholm said at a press conference on Thursday.

Timing will affect that number, as will ongoing factors in the economy. Also not known at this point, sources said, is how the cuts will be allocated between departments, school aid and colleges and universities.

Source: Gongwer News Service, 11.6.08