Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday ordered additional cuts across the state bureaucracy that will slow down state hiring and nonessential service contracts a move he said could save the cash-strapped state $100 million by June 30, thje Sacramento Bee reports.

The governor ordered all agency secretaries and department directors to immediately begin reducing their current budgets by 1.5 percent by cutting nonessential services and activities. The order, which takes effect immediately, directs secretaries and directors to find savings, whether it’s on personnel, travel or equipment.

“Today I signed an executive order to instruct all departments to look for more cuts,” Schwarzenegger said Tuesday. “And they will look at that, and I think we can get another $100 million worth of cuts out of it.”

Schwarzenegger issued the order on the heels of a $2 billion midyear budget reduction last week to deal with the state’s projected $14.5 billion deficit, which could get even larger when Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill releases her report today.

The governor, who has already proposed 10 percent across-the-board cuts, said he wanted to make sure the state is in “good financial footing” as it heads into the 2008-09 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

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