State agencies, public schools and colleges next fiscal year face steep budget cuts that would roll back spending to levels not seen -- in some cases -- in more than a decade.

House budget writers, who began piecing together a proposed spending plan Tuesday, recommended the reductions as they attempt to bridge a shortfall, estimated as high as $800 million. The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to complete work this week on a spending bill for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

"We've said for months now it's going to be a tough year," said Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. "This budget reflects that fact. ‘.‘.‘. Either we did this or we proposed a serious increase in taxes. And no one wants to increase taxes."

The proposed budget cuts come as state income continues to trickle in while the national economy sputters. South Carolina, along with other states, has pared government spending to bring it in line with decreasing revenue.

So for the third consecutive year, state agencies are likely to have their budgets whittled down.

In the current budget cycle, state agencies have faced cuts of 5 percent and 3.73 percent. As a result, the budget is $518.2 million smaller than the spending plan legislators adopted. Of that amount, $416.6 million was in spending reductions to agencies, and the state used a $101.6 million financial reserve to offset further cuts.

The reductions being considered by House budget writers would come on top of the cutbacks suffered by agencies.

"I don't think we can afford to cut our way to recovery," said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg. "But I'm not seeing or sensing any interest in this committee to talk about ways to generate revenue. I'm real concerned about cutting our way to (economic) recovery -- particularly when recovery is nowhere in the foreseeable future."

Harrell said budget writers are attempting to make education and health care priorities in the spending plan. For example, legislators are putting dollars toward keeping teacher salaries at the Southeastern average, Harrell said.

"But everyone else has taken pretty serious cuts," Harrell said.

The recommended cuts, for example, would reduce the Department of Archives and History budget by about 14.6 percent below the amount lawmakers adopted at the start of the fiscal year. The reduction would take the department's spending to a level the General Assembly adopted in the 1986-87 budget cycle.

Other agencies face similar situations. The Department of Public Safety would get 16 percent less than what it was scheduled to receive this year before the midyear cuts. Lawmakers would have to examine budget documents from the 1995-96 fiscal year to find a smaller amount appropriated for the agency.

Technical colleges and universities didn't fare any better, receiving cuts of 9.88 percent. Two- and four-year institutions would lose more than $67 million on top of the cuts sustained so far this year. For USC, that means nearly 18 percent less than originally anticipated this year.

Though legislators attempted to bolster teacher salaries, money for bread-and-butter operations of public schools suffered under the proposal.

House budget writers want to give school districts $1,643 per student to cover education expenses. That figure is far below the $2,033 base student cost established in the budget before the spending cuts. Next year's proposal takes the per-pupil cost to the threshold it was during the 1995-96 budget year.

The subcommittee charged with writing the health portion of the budget -- the second-largest piece after education -- struggled with whether to cut programs for the elderly, the environment, the mentally ill, or some combination of all of the above.

The group, led by Rep. Rick Quinn, R-Richland, decided to cut the number of prescriptions for Medicaid patients from four per month to three. That potentially affects more than 300,000 seniors and disabled people who rely on Medicaid for prescription drug coverage. However, doctors would still have the ability to prescribe more than three drugs in life-threatening cases.

Also, the subcommittee approved saving $4 million by restructuring the Children's Health Insurance Program to include some enrollment fees and co-payments.

House Minority Leader James Smith, D-Richland, denounced the proposals, saying they reduce service for some of the state's most vulnerable people.

Staff writer Valerie Bauerlein contributed to this report.