Today our state is facing a budget deficit of historic proportions. If we let it, this shortfall could turn back years of progress towards protecting our quality of life and building a strong future.

As state lawmakers wrestle over what to do, we wanted to give you the opportunity to balance the budget yourself. How will you do it? Will you increase class sizes or cut teachers' salaries? Will you raise taxes or knock thousands off of health care?

The budget process isn't as mysterious as it seems, but it's full of tough questions and hard decisions. Click on the link below to use our new online game, YouBudget. Let's see what you decide.

www.youbudget.org

Legislators and the Governor have already enacted common-sense belt-tightening measures like a hiring freeze, travel ban and cutting many boards and commissions. They are now moving forward with more painful cuts. But with an $8 billion shortfall, belt-tightening is not enough.

Before you balance the budget, check out the video from Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, where she talks about the decisions facing the legislature in light of the budget crisis. Then, take some time to balance the budget yourself using our online game. It should only take you about 10 minutes.

www.youbudget.org

Finally, after you've balanced the budget let your legislators know how you did it - and what you hope they'll do. How we handle this budget crisis is going to impact all of us, so we all need to weigh in.

Thanks for taking the time to balance the budget.