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PHOENIX — A new forecast Wednesday predicts Arizona will wind up at least $700 million short of tax collections needed to finance the nearly $10 billion in spending authorized by lawmakers just four months ago.

And that's the optimistic projection.

Economists on the state's Finance Advisory Committee predicted in March that tax collections for the new fiscal year that began July 1 would be down less than 2 percent from last year's anemic revenues.

But the consensus of the panel is now that collections will drop by more than 5 percent, said Richard Stavneak, director of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

That means the gap between revenues and spending could hit $1.1 billion.

Even that may not be the bottom: State Treasurer Dean Martin, who is a member of the committee, said he thinks the actual hole could be $200 million to $300 million deeper.

There appears to be no relief, at least for the short term, with a potential $3 billion in red ink for next fiscal year, Stavneak said.

Gov. Janet Napolitano, who insisted on much of the spending in the current budget, said Wednesday she had not seen the new forecasts. But she made light of the economic projections.

"They do call it the 'dismal science,' " she said. "I would agree with the 'dismal' part; I'm not sure about the 'science' part anymore."

Napolitano said she has implemented various plans to save money, including a hiring freeze on about half of state government. Her department heads continue to look for places to cut, she said.

The governor argued there is simply no way to do the kind of trimming necessary to bring state spending in line with forecast revenues.

She said the majority of the budget is composed of four areas: state aid to public schools, health care for the needy, university funding and the prison system. With the first two constitutionally protected, Napolitano said she expects the universities in particular to take a financial hit.

She said she hopes to do it in a way where "we're not taking a big machete to everything, but we're still building, we're still growing, we're still understanding that our goal is to double the number of bachelor's-degree recipients in this state."

Ultimately, though, it will take more budget maneuvers — including an idea to essentially sell off the state's future share of the estimated $3.2 billion it was awarded a decade ago as part of a nationwide settlement with tobacco companies.

That money is supposed to be paid out over 25 years, with estimates for this year pegged at about $118 million. The proceeds finance a 2000 voter-approved mandate to expand the number of people who get free health care from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.

Napolitano proposes to "securitize" that obligation: Get a private investor to give the state money now — in an amount less than what eventually would be paid — in exchange for all future payments.

The current state budget already relies on borrowing, largely for capital needs such as new school buildings. This plan to borrow against tobacco revenues, however, would be to fund actual day-to-day operations.

Napolitano said that does not make the idea the equivalent of a payday loan.

"Many states have securitized their tobacco settlement," she said. She's still exploring whether that makes sense for Arizona, especially since the revenues fund AHCCCS.

Treasurer Martin criticized the idea.

"This is going to be a multiyear problem and so we need multiyear solutions," he said of the state's financial crunch. "Anything that gets you one-time revenue simply delays the inevitable and makes next year's (needed) cuts larger."

Napolitano is looking at doing more of that. She said Wednesday she is exploring a similar idea for the Arizona Lottery to get immediate cash instead of waiting for future revenues.

PHOENIX — Got an idea on how the state can save money?

Gov. Janet Napolitano wants to hear from you, especially if you're a state employee and if you're willing to give her your name.

Napolitano unveiled a new Web site Wednesday where she is posting all of her news releases on what she said she is doing to deal with the deficit. The site at www.az.gov/oss — for Openness and Savings Strategy — also contains a "tip of the week," with the current one telling workers to shut down their computers when they go home.

It also has an electronic suggestion box.

"Sometimes you find that somebody who has been at an agency for 10 or 12 years, they really know some kind of form that they've been spending time on that really isn't necessary, or some kind of report they're required to write that really doesn't provide much useful information because it duplicates another kind of report that they do," Napolitano said. "These are very practical things to save money."

The site is being set up, and monitored, in a way to preclude the public airing of more outrageous or even rude proposals.

Napolitano said suggestions will not be automatically posted on the site. Instead, only ideas determined to have merit will end up viewable to others.

She said that's not an attempt to keep politically-charged proposals out of view. "Our goal is not to be censorious," she said.

"There may be things that we're already doing," she explained. "Sometimes employees don't know all the things that already are under way."

Napolitano said there will be no posting with "inappropriate information on it, like confidential information."

How much of that might occur is unclear, particularly as the part of the site specifically aimed at state employees requires them to list their full name, phone number, e-mail and agency for which they work. Suggestions missing any of that information are electronically rejected.

A separate link for private citizens requires a full name and e-mail to be submitted.

Gubernatorial press aide Jeanine L'Ecuyer said when the Web site was recently constructed, no one raised the issue of allowing anonymous suggestions. She said that may be considered in the future.

L'Ecuyer also promised that if a proposal comes in suggesting that the governor has too many publicists — there are three full-time employees — that comment will be posted on the Web site.