DES MOINES - State budget managers Thursday began looking for programs, positions and places to eliminate or reduce to meet Gov. Chet Culver's immediate call for a uniform 10 percent budget cut to save $600 million.

"We cannot wait. We cannot delay. We have to act," Culver told a Statehouse news conference in ordering the immediate across-the-board cut for executive-branch agencies to keep the state's fiscal 2010 budget balanced. The cuts do not apply to the legislative or judicial branches, but legislative leaders already have agreed to impose an 8.5 percent reduction to their budget areas, he said.

"This is a tough challenging time. Our backs are against the wall. But we're not going to run and hide. We're going to deal with it," said Culver, who expected hundreds of employee layoffs and severe government cutbacks to comply with his executive order.

The governor announced the $600 million cut one day after the state Revenue Estimating Conference significantly reduced the amount of tax revenue projected to flow into the state treasury between now and next June 30.

The three-member state panel slashed the amount of revenue the state can expect to take in this fiscal year by $414.9 million. Revenue Estimating Conference members lowered its fiscal 2010 projection from nearly $5.853 billion last March to $5.438 billion currently.

The governor said Iowa had a sound budget plan that was debased by bad policies in Washington, D.C., and bad financial practices on Wall Street that plunged the nation into deep recession, undercut employment and rippled negatively through the economy.

Culver vowed that state government would weather these unprecedented budget problems without raising taxes.

"It's going to have a negative impact. It's going to be a very tough thing for all Iowans to deal with," he said. "We're not going to be able to provide the same services at the same level."

The governor ruled out a special legislative session because action is needed now, but he said he would ask lawmakers in January to "backfill" about $30 million in cuts for essential services like public safety and children's health. Culver also said he would ask schools to use nearly $400 million in cash reserves to cover state aid shortfalls to avoid shifting the financial burden for public education to property taxpayers.

However, Matt Strawn, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, said the "devastating" cutbacks potentially could force property taxes to go up by $284 million because of the way tax credits and K-12 school districts are funded by state government.

"It will be difficult, but it will be difficult for everybody," said Ben Norman of the School Administrators of Iowa. "It presents a significant challenge."

Some K-12 districts are better prepared to weather a reduction in state aid for public education, he noted. Those will ample cash reserves will be able to use those resources, while others will have to seek additional spending authority from the School Budget Review Committee or borrow funds to cover a shortfall - options that main shift costs to property taxpayers, he added.

"It's not good. I don't think that's a surprise to anybody," Norman said. "We're cautioning our people to be taking a look at your options, wait for the spreadsheets to see what the effect is, and then we'll work out the individual solutions for the districts."

Roger Munns, spokesman for the state Department of Human Services, said the need to cut social services comes at a time when the recession has pushed program participation and caseloads for DHS field workers to new highs.

Medicaid participation stood at 353,000 Iowans last month, while the 313,000 federal food stamp recipients in August represented a 15.6 percent surge from the previous year, he said. The state's share of Medicaid amounts to more than half the DHS $1.3 billion in general fund spending and each percentage cuts equates to about $13 million, he noted.

"The case workers are under enormous stress, there's no doubt about it," Munns said, noting each field worker is carrying an average of 518 cases involving food aid, welfare benefits, Medicaid or subsidized adoptions and child care.

"It's a sobering time for government workers," he said, noting it would be difficult to make the kinds of cuts being ordered without impacting programs and personnel.

State court administrator David Boyd said a 10 percent cut to the Judicial Branch would mean a $16 million reduction for court services that are 95 percent personnel costs.

"It's devastating," he said. "I certainly have never seen anything like it in my 32 years. Somehow, we'll have to keep the justice system moving."

Boyd said the funding reductions to a court system that already has lost 30 positions likely will mean a slow down in services and fewer people working in courthouses that will be open fewer days.