Topeka ? Even as Kansas government prepared for the possibility of new cuts in education and social services, Gov. Bill Graves promised Thursday that the Statehouse dome would get a statue.

With revenue collections continuing to fall short of expectations, Graves said it was possible that the state would have to juggle bills or take other steps to avoid a deficit before the current fiscal year ends June 30. Also, he said, the state may have to cut spending to prevent a budget deficit at the end of the next fiscal year.

Graves told reporters that he wouldn’t be able to spare aid to public schools from a new round of cuts nor, most likely, universities and services for needy Kansans. Education and social services consume more than 80 percent of the state’s tax dollars.

Yet Graves said the state would reinforce the Statehouse dome at an estimated cost of $750,000 so that it can hold the 20-foot statue depicting a Kansa Indian with an arrow drawn to the sky. Some legislators have suggested the state shouldn’t spend its tax dollars on the “Ad Astra” project because of its budget problems.

Plans call for the statue to go on the dome in September, and Graves said, “I look forward to the ceremony in September.”

Based on collection figures through May, state officials now expect the state to finish the current fiscal year on June 30 with at least $190 million less than expected in revenues. That shortfall would repeat in fiscal 2003, which begins July 1.

That would blow a big hole in the $4.42 billion budget for the state’s 2003 fiscal year one slightly smaller than the current budget.

A week ago, Graves released a copy of a memo he sent to the directors and secretaries of state agencies, warning them to be frugal in their spending because of the possibility that he may have to order further cuts.

“Manage your budget so that you have as much flexibility as possible to absorb a mid-year reduction,” Graves wrote in the memo.

He told reporters: “At this point, it’s all about staying in the black.”

Asked about the dome statue, Graves said the state had made a commitment to sculptor Richard Bergen, of Salina, who produced “Ad Astra.” The Kansas Arts Commission chose his work in 1988. The name comes from the state motto, “Ad astra per aspera,” or “To the stars through difficulties.”

The cost of reinforcing the dome and legislators’ reluctance to embrace the project have prevented the statue from reaching its intended destination. A 1,000-watt light bulb now adorns the dome.

“It’s a big deal to me that the state made a commitment,” Graves said. “It’s going to happen here.”

The dome has been a source of controversy for decades. A 1901 plan, outlined two years before work on the Statehouse finished, called for putting a statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture.

But over the years, legislators have questioned Ceres’ morals.