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Penn's funding from the state would decrease by 16 percent in Gov. Ed Rendell's 2009-10 budget proposal, which was released yesterday.

The appropriation would fall from $46.4 million to $38.8 million, according to the state's budget Web site.

The largest share of this allotment would go to Penn's Veterinary School, the only school of its type in the state.

Still, funding for the Vet School would decrease by 10 percent, from $39.6 million to $35.7 million.

Penn dental clinics, medical programs and cardiovascular studies, which were previously funded, would receive no money.

The Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology also would face a 10 percent decrease in state funding, from $251,000 to $226,000.

Penn is not the only university to see decreases in state funding - the state's total allocation for higher education would decrease 5.5 percent, from $1.64 billion to $1.55 billion.

Other budget proposals include an increase in state grants for students attending public institutions. Funding for these grants would come from the proposed legalization of video-poker machines at bars and other locations.

Due to the current economic crisis, the state's 2008-09 budget deficit is expected to reach $2.3 billion by the end of the fiscal year.

"[The] budget presents challenges the likes of which Pennsylvania and the nation have not seen since the Great Depression," Rendell said in his Executive Budget Address yesterday.

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