HANCOCK – With $600 million in unidentified cuts looming for road funding, local education officials expressed concern that education dollars might get the axe.

Members questioned local legislators about the cuts at last Friday’s legislative luncheon hosted by the Copper Country Intermediate School District.

State Rep. Scott Dianda, D-Calumet, voted against the road package. He told local education officials he was also worried about the $600 million that would come from unidentified cuts.

“We haven’t found anybody yet in the Republican-controlled House, or Senate, or the executive office, to tell us where these cuts are coming from,” he said. “… If we’re going to start looking at $600 million worth of unidentified cuts, and we have 18 state departments, and education being one of the biggest pots, start doing the math.”

State Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaboa, voted in favor of increases to the gas tax and registration fees. According to Kirk Schott, Casperson’s spokesman at the luncheon, the 20 percent registration increase, while imperfect, is an improvement over the larger increase originally proposed. He agreed with Dianda that the biggest concern is the unidentified cuts. There’s a long history in the state of taking money from education and using it elsewhere, he said.

“The problem is, when it really starts to kick in, the guys that voted for or against it, a lot of them won’t be here,” Schott said.