CULLMAN — Tuesday will mark the beginning of what is expected to be a trying, and likely contentious, journey through the murky pits of state funding procedures.

When times were better in the economy lawmakers seemed content to continue funding state agencies at expected levels, paying little attention to redundancies in services here or sagging revenues there. Shift a few dollars from one place to another and live for today. But no more.

A very sick General Fund is prostrate on a table, front and center, like a battlefield casualty for senators and representatives to attempt to revive. But that will not be easy. The budget is $400 million short of what is needed to sustain life, which raises the inevitable call for proration. For some agencies that will mean 25 percent budget reductions. Others may see as much as 35 percent.

After several years of economic decline, state lawmakers — many of them Republicans pledged to bringing accountability in government — have few places to look for bailout money. And whatever dollars may be tucked away in other funds, this new regiment of Republicans is not likely to support tampering with reserves.

Among the new lawmakers are Republicans Sen. Paul Bussman and Rep. Mac Buttram, both of Cullman. They both regret that a majority of lawmakers did not agree last session to go through the pain of reducing costs in the General Fund. If that had happened, they believe the state would be turning the corner much faster on establishing effective funding for crucial state services.

Rep. Jeremy Oden, also a Cullman County Republican, is the veteran lawmaker among the local delegation. He said the mission is clear, but reaching a conclusion will be difficult when legislators come to the floor.

“How are we going to do it?” I think some agencies will get the full 25 percent cut, some may get 35 percent,” Oden said. “The debate is going to be what services can be cut. Our circuit clerk’s office is understaffed now. You can’t ignore what effects the cuts will have on services and the people you represent.”

One avenue to saving costs will be to look for more retirements within the state’s vast infrastructure of agencies, said Bussman, who also agreed attention must be paid to the level and quality of services for the public.

“We will also begin to address the duplication in services. We have 40 agencies that duplicate services and another 126 that have some level of duplication,” Bussman said. “We also hope to offer retirements and accomplish some of the cuts through attrition.”

Oden warns, however, that the state has been through a round of retirements, although many were in education, and that attrition will not accomplish everything needed.

“You will also have to look at road aspects in the budget proc ess — matching funds for road projects,” Oden said.

Federal highway money typically comes with requirements for state and local matches. Oden said more of the burden for funding matches may fall back on local communities, which could hold up many key projects across the state.

What really troubles the process of addressing the General Fund shortfall is there is no room to seriously consider Medicaid and the state corrections system. Those two areas of the General Fund consume the bulk of the budget, and there’s no r oom to reduce those areas.

Medicaid and corrections have in past years taken up about 42 percent of the budget, leaving just over a billion dollars for judicial and other services to split. With no influx of one-time money on the horizon, Medicaid and corrections will take up $735 million of a projected $1.3 billion in available funds.

Bussman said the state is already under pressure to resolve overcrowding in the prison system or face the risk of the U.S. Justice Department intervening and ordering a release of inmates.

“We don’t want the federal government stepping in. We need to look at some programs that allow some non-violent offenders to be released under supervision,” Bussman said. “I think Judge (Kim) Chaney (a Cullman County district judge) has a program with his drug court that is a good example of what to do.”

Under Chaney’s program, drug offenders pay a monthly fee, work and report regularly to monitor their behavior. The idea is simply to provide direction and motivation to stay out of jail and off drugs, which in turn saves money on the cost of incarceration.

With so few options available for funding, many lawmakers insist that cutting the budget and passing bills that help bring more investments to the state is the best approach for a healthier future. The economy has been showing signs of recovery, though slower than anyone anticipated.

The idea of raising taxes or restructuring the state’s tax collections is not a popular topic. The state relies heavily on sales taxes, which fluctuate with economic conditions while property taxes — widely considered more stable — have traditionally been beaten down in the legislature and remain the lowest in the nation.

Bussman said reducing the size of government and passing job and investment incentives is the approach lawmakers will take in this session. He said an economic turnaround and sustained increases of tax revenues into the budgets because of growth could give rise to consideration of reducing taxes on groceries.

Even when this session is closed, lawmakers are keeping a watch for what they term “Obamacare,” the president’s plan to provide wider health care coverage for Americans. Bussman said the plan, if not overruled by the U.S Supreme Court, as he understands it would create a whole new set of pressures on the state’s General Fund in 2012, leaving hardly any money for other agencies.

“It is an unfunded mandate. It’s no a Republican or Democrat issue, it’s a ‘we can’t afford it’ issue,” Bussman said. “Our understanding is that anyone within 133 percent of federal poverty level can enroll. We would need an additional $685 million.”

Buttram also said lawmakers will look closely at budgets presented by state agencies and demand justification for what they request.

“One point to consider is that the legislature will not see the governor’s budget proposal until the second day of the session,” Buttram said. “At that point we can really start to move forward. Even so we’ll have to consider the impact on services such as mental health, the Department of Human Resources, transportation, courts and youth services.”

Lawmakers are also facing a shortfall in the Education Trust Fund, but widely they believe that issue can be handled without proration. Buttram said the quality of education is important to state in its longterm plans, noting that fewer dropouts from the system likely translates to fewer residents inhabiting the state prisons.

“Statistics show high school graduation is a factor, that you’re less likely to be involved in crime. The quality of what we do in education is really important,” Buttram said.

Buttram and many Republican elected recently to the legislature are also directing much of their attention to setting a tone in the state that creates a strong environment for investments that bring new jobs and expansions of existing businesses. Unemployment has been dropping as some industries are seeing new demands for their products, but the jobless rate remains too high for any deep sighs of relief.

“Some of our rebounding is due to the auto industry coming back up,” Oden said. “We have to have the economy turning to really solve the budget problems in the longterm. Job growth is going to come from investments in the private sector.”

* David Palmer may be contacted at 256-734-2131, ext. 213 or dpalmer@cullmantimes.com.