Regents discuss budget cuts today

The State Board of Regents is meeting today in Council Bluffs. The board that governs of the three state universities will begin hearing preliminary reports on the 2002 operating budgets of the schools. Regents Executive Secretary Frank Stork says the presidents of the University of Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa are trying to find ways to handle the six percent funding cut from the governor and legislature. Stork says there are a lot of options for making the cuts, from not filling open positions, to layoffs. Stork says the decisions are not easy as they’re taking 42-million dollars out of their budgets and people are going to start seeing the effects of the cuts. Stork says the budget discussions will continue the next two months with final action at the board’s July meeting. The Regents are meeting today in Council Bluffs.