ATLANTA --- Ben Harbin oversees the writing of the House version of the budget, and he doesn't know what will get the ax.

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Harbin, a Republican from Evans who is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said Friday, a day after Gov. Sonny Perdue revised his budget recommendations, that many decisions still remain to be made.

"We're trying to determine what we can do," he said. "We're trying to digest it and go through it."

Reverberations from a list of $300 million in possible cuts issued by the University System of Georgia's Board of Regents continue to echo around the state with protests in various cities.

The regents listed 4,000 layoffs, closure of satellite campuses and the elimination of the popular 4-H youth program. Students of all ages have written and called their legislators, and hundreds are expected to march to the Capitol on Monday to protest.

Harbin said they shouldn't jump the gun.

"The regents' list was bogus," he said. "They were trying to put something out that would scare the whole state."

Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers estimated Friday that the added cuts to the university system would be closer to the $120 million Perdue recommended the day before.

"I do agree with the governor that the reduction at the regents will be far less than the talk last week of an additional $300 million," said Rogers, R-Woodstock.

Perdue formally lowered his estimate of how much money the state will have to spend in the current and coming fiscal years. The current year will be short $343 million, and the year beginning July 1 will be lacking $443 million.

To adjust, he proposed spending some federal stimulus money this year that was being saved for next year. But there would be no further cuts to spending in the final weeks of the current year.

Starting in July, state agencies would have to take another 3 percent cut. The cut would be less for agencies dealing with education, health care and prisons.

Doctors and hospitals would take a 10.25 percent cut in what they're paid for treating Medicaid patients. That could cause some hospitals to close, fire staff or end some services.

Perdue's proposal might not be fully accepted by legislators, who expressed some reluctance to cut as much as the governor proposed. If they chose another option, that will mean cutting somewhere else or finding revenue somewhere.

Harbin offered some assurance.

"There will be some effects on the street, but the average person will probably like it better than some of the alternatives that have been offered," he said.