What else has been cut?

State agencies are cutting back in small ways too.

As noted previously, Gov. Beverly Perdue asked Cabinet-level agencies to trim their spending. A list of the cuts includes some interesting items:

* The Department of Administration has stopped printing most publications.

* The Department of Cultural Resources is training employees online and turning off computers at night.

* The Department of Revenue is encouraging carpooling.

Some of these cutbacks actually have positive benefits. For example, environmentalists might support putting more state publications online rather than printing them, while carpooling and turning off computers saves gas and electricity.

Fiscal conservatives, meantime, support reduced spending on travel and other items.