{Frankfort, Kentucky}...At a meeting of the legislature’s joint budget committee Tuesday, State Budget Director Mary Lassiter announced Governor Steve Beshear will cut spending on many state programs by an additional 2 percent to help plug a $190 million hole in the budget for the current fiscal year, exempting base education funding, Medicaid and a handful of other high-priority areas. Lassiter says no state workers will be furloughed as part of the plan. Senator Bob Leeper, the Paducah independent who is co-chairman of the joint budget committee, said after the meeting that he didn’t see any way to avoid more cuts in the next budget. Last month, Leeper released a projection that the state faces a $337 million deficit in 2012-13.
