We were warned when the Gov signed the state's $28.1 billion operating budget in mid-July- There will be budget cuts halfway through the year.

State Sen. Stan Rosenberg said it and now UMass Chancellor Robert Holub is saying it. 

On Thursday, at the year's first Faculty Senate meeting, Holub warned of cuts to come. 

"The outlook is not termed rosy," said Holub who got his doom and gloom budget news from the governor at a luncheon he attended this week.

"The governor remains committed to education, committed to higher education, but it is unlikely that we will be spared reductions in mid-year and for the next budget cycle," Holub said. "It's unlikely we're going to go through unscathed."

Holub noted that UMass' economic outlook is not the picture he was presented with when he applied for the chancellor job  in the spring. At that time UMass was riding high with a supportive governor, two billion dollar bond bills that were going to funnel boat loads of cash to UMass capital needs and several proposed legislative budgets that offered decent boosts for the university.

"I don't think there is a correlation between my being appointed and the down turn," Holub joked.

"One thing we don't want to do is lose any momentum," Holub said, "I'll be counting on you for help and advice with this difficult task we're going to face."

So cuts are coming, but how bad is it going to get? I don't know right now, but that's certainly a question I should be trying to answer within the next couple days.

Mid-year cuts took place in 2006 when then-Gov Romney sliced $425 million from the budget saying Mass just doesn't have the money. Now-Gov Patrick was elected soon after the cuts and restored most of the funding.

Although it seems people are bracing themselves for these impending cuts... I don't know where they will happen or who will be most impacted. There's a story to look into, eh?

I've been a reporter for five years. Budget coverage is a big part of my job. When I first came on in 2003, towns and public institutions were reeling from the 01-02 money crunch. I reported on cuts and layoffs, on complaints that EMTs weren't able to get to car accidents and medical emergencies in a timely manner because there wasn't enough money to keep guys on the clock.

In 05-06 things were picking up. There was talk of cautiously, carefully and slowly replacing the services that were whacked in the earlier half of the decade. And not just talk, these hires and return of services were taking place.

Then came 07-08 and well, you're living it, you know how it is.

Man, the band-aids are bled through.