Leaders of organizations that provide a social safety net for thousands of people said Wednesday that recent state budget cuts will have a devastating effect.

“People are going to get hurt,” David Johnson, CEO of the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, said in a meeting with Douglas County legislators.

“You can’t take a million and a half dollars out of Bert Nash and people not getting hurt,” Johnson said.

Representatives of nearly 20 groups met with the local legislators in preparation for the 2010 legislative session that starts Monday.

Record drops in tax revenue have resulted in five rounds of budget cuts, and lawmakers still face a nearly $400 million shortfall.

Gov. Mark Parkinson recently ordered a 10 percent cut in Medicaid funding that groups serving low-income Kansans said will result in many Kansans not getting the services they need.

Several group representatives urged lawmakers to consider ways to increase revenue, including the elimination of some sales tax exemptions.

Dan Partridge, executive director of the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, said the cuts are harming programs and the state’s ability to attract federal dollars.

“My one-line message is do what you can to preserve the leveraging of federal dollars back into Kansas,” Partridge told the legislators.

Attending the meeting were state Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, and state Reps. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, and Paul Davis, D-Lawrence.