DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS — If you see Gov. Ted Strickland in the next few weeks, it's almost guaranteed that he'll tell you how bad the state budget is.

Strickland wants you to know that it's terrible. Awful. The worst.

Strickland and his budget director, Pari Sabety, have already delivered their hourlong, sobering PowerPoint presentation to legislative leaders, the Statehouse media corps and public employee unions. On Friday, Dec. 5, newspaper editors and publishers will get the horror show at the Governor's Mansion.

While in Philadelphia for a governors' meeting with President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday, Dec. 2, Strickland made his plea for federal help for Ohio directly to Rahm Emanuel, who'll be Obama's chief of staff.

Strickland indicated to Emanuel that Ohio would need $5 billion in block grants, said Keith Dailey, Strickland's spokesman. Emanuel told Strickland, "I hear you. You may not get everything you want. You will get help," according to Dailey.

The president-elect "understands the significant challenges confronting states like Ohio and the governor believes there will be significant help for states in the next administration," said Dailey.

The economic recession means Ohio's income tax and sales tax revenues are well below expected levels. The current $53.4 billion, two-year budget faces a $640 million shortfall that must be made up by June 30 and state budget officials expect that they'll have to chop $7.3 billion out of the next two-year budget.

For now, the governor won't talk specifics about how many state employees may face layoffs or wage freezes, what programs and state institutions may be closed, if the state will jack up fees to raise more money, or whether colleges and universities will be allowed to hike tuition.

Strickland said areas including tax relief, Medicaid and debt service are non-discretionary and will not be cut. But the cuts will be deep — as much as 25 percent — for state agencies that are considered "discretionary" or are funded heavily through the general revenue fund, such as job and family services, youth services, prisons and other agencies.

Other departments, such as transportation, highway patrol and Ohio EPA, rely on fees, gas taxes, and other funding that could insulate them from steep budget reductions.

Since 2004, the state has closed two prisons, two mental health hospitals and two centers for severely developmentally disabled Ohioans. Since March 2007, the state has trimmed 3,000 employees from the payroll.

Contract talks with the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, which represents 34,000 of the state's 60,500 employees, began this week and are expected to last into January. The current three-year contract expires in 2009.