Gov. Steve Beshear made a five-stop tour this week around the state, advising constituents to ask state senators to not make education cuts to fund Medicaid.

Beshear believes the Medicaid budget should be balanced by borrowing from next year’s Medicaid funds and not by cutting education dollars, according to multiple reports from Paducah.

If enacted, the Republican plan would cut $38 million from elementary schools, $22 million from state universities and $4.5 million from community colleges, Beshear told reporters.

On Tuesday, Beshear made a stop at the Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport advising local voters to be vocal in the issue.

WKU is now facing $2.3 million in budget cuts across the board for fiscal years 2011 and 2012, said Robbin Taylor, vice president for Public Affairs.

For more than a month, departments have been deciding how exactly the cuts will be made, Taylor said.

Taylor said WKU is expected to announce how these cuts will be made either today or early next week. She said that as of Thursday, some division cuts were still being finalized.