Already shaken by two rounds of budget cuts, education, social service and health agencies face another hit as lawmakers return Wednesday for the wrap-up session amid a worsening economic climate.

The House budget-writing committee has proposed cuts of $113.5 million to public schools, $75 million to social services and $29 million to higher education.

Lawrence schools Supt. Randy Weseman said cuts of that magnitude would probably lead to layoffs and a reduction in services.

“There will be some jobs at stake,” Weseman said. “When 86 percent of your expenses are tied up in personnel costs, there are going to be some programs and positions that we will not be able to support.”

And, he said, it’s possible that the state’s financial health — already sliding into a record downturn — could get worse.

“I don’t think we’re out of the woods. I don’t think we can even find the woods right now,” he said.

School officials plan to have a budget session Monday to go over their options.

Kansas University officials also are confronting the budget issues.

The university already has tightened its belt because of a 7 percent cut in state funding, said Provost Richard Lariviere.

“We prepared for a 7 percent budget cut, and it was our expectation that that would be it. If there is more, that is going to hurt a lot,” he said.

While the House Appropriations Committee proposal would cut higher education by $29 million, the Senate Ways and Means Committee plan would slice $20 million from higher education.

Meanwhile, social service and health agencies are sweating it out.

Earlier this month, lawmakers approved $1.2 million to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to cover 8,000 more Kansas children.

But that expansion may be history under new proposed budget cuts. The Kansas Health Policy Authority, which administers SCHIP and Medicaid, already has seen administrative cuts of 11 percent in earlier budget-cutting bills.

That has produced a backlog of more than 11,000 unprocessed applications for medical assistance, KHPA said.

“Essentially, we’re being hit from two sides,” said KHPA Executive Director Marcia Nielsen. “We have more and more Kansans applying for medical assistance as the economy worsens, but we’re getting less funding to pay for the staff and technical support we need to meet the increased demand,” she said.