COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina's House begins debate Tuesday on cutting $488 million from the state's budget with the two biggest ticket items - education and health care - taking the brunt of reductions.

The spending cut bill was introduced Monday in the House as agencies began to assess the toll on payrolls and programs and legislators had no guess about how many jobs will be lost. The House takes up the spending reductions Tuesday with the Senate expected to follow on Thursday.

At the Education Department alone, where 770 work in the agency's headquarters, the bill calls for cutting payroll spending by 15 percent, said John Cooley, the agency's chief finance officer. The agency spends about $16 million on wages. "We're getting ready to be asked to take about a $2.2 million reduction to that," Cooley said.

He said the agency is trying to figure out how to do that. It has an ongoing hiring freeze and has held positions open. Now it is mulling whether it will let go of retirees who have returned to work and probationary employees who haven't worked a year. Beyond that, it can use voluntary and mandatory furloughs.

The Education Department accounts for about a third of state spending. While legislators said they would seek to spare classrooms from cuts as much as they could, other areas of education have no such guarantees.

For instance, assessment programs under the state's Education Accountability Act lose more than half their $4 million budget. And First Steps, a statewide early childhood education initiative loses $1.8 million, or more than 10 percent of its $17.4 million budget.

State universities also face harsh cuts under the legislation. For instance, Clemson University would have to cut payroll spending by $11.2 million, or about 12.6 percent. And the college's International Center for Auto Research, involving a partnership with BMW, loses $1 million, or half its budget.

Legislators shielded the Department of Health and Human Services from cuts in Medicaid programs for the state's poorest children. But the agency faces cuts elsewhere. For instance, $4.6 million is being cut from pharmaceutical services, or about 12 percent.

But not all children's services are spared. For instance, the Department of Health and Environmental Control's newborn hearing screening program loses nearly $75,000, or a tenth of its budget.

And the Department of Social Services, long criticized for not acting quickly enough to remove children from dangerous situations, loses $1.5 million from its child protective services payroll, or 17 percent of those costs.

When the Senate takes up the bill Thursday, Sen. Darrell Jackson said he will push plans to cut the normal legislative session in half next year and save at least $1 million.

"More importantly, I think it's the right message that we send as legislators. Not only are we willing to ask you state employees and agencies to make sacrifices, but we're willing to make those sacrifices, too," Jackson said.