State Sen. Lavon Heidemann woke up at 2 a.m. Tuesday and used the quiet darkness of morning to read the governor's budget proposal.

Ninety-three pages -cover to cover.

So he was ready to start the discussion Tuesday with his Appropriations Committee on the special legislative session that will address the state's budget crisis.

The state, coming somewhat later to the recession than many states, is facing a shortfall of $334 million in the current two-year budget, he said.

Gov. Dave Heineman has proposed solving the problem with agency savings, transfers from the general fund and both across-the-board reductions and specific cuts.

The Appropriations Committee's two-hour talk, a day before the start of the session, was as much about the long term as the short-term fix.

"There's going to be a lot of painful decisions made over the next couple of years," said Heidemann, the committee's chairman.

Committee members talked commodity boards, cash balances, furloughs, and the possibility of changing from biweekly to bimonthly state pay periods.

Several committee members saw the need for bigger fixes for the state budget.

The short-term proposals don't address the need to reduce the size of state government, said Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad.

"It's a Band-Aid at best," she said. "It's a very short-term solution."

Sen. John Harms of Scottsbluff said the Legislature needs to think about the years beyond the current two-year budget.

"I don't think the economy is going to come around very rapidly," Harms said.

There are opportunities to address streamlining government, he said. And it's better to redesign and re-engineer state government before the heat is really on.

Senators differed on the possibility of layoffs and furloughs for state employees.

"We'll save jobs as much as we can, but I don't think we'll be able to save them all," Harms said.

Omaha Sen. Heath Mello said every person laid off delays the recovery from the recession in this state.

But decisions on layoffs and furloughs are likely going to be out of the hands of the Legislature, Sen. John Wightman of Lexington said.

Now, more than ever, budget reform needs to be on the table, Mello said.

Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.