Total Action Against Poverty will have to cut programs that serve thousands of needy families and lay off staff if proposed cuts in its state funding stand when the smoke clears from the new General Assembly session, TAP's president said.

With the session starting today, TAP is counting on Roanoke-area legislators to do all they can to get more money into the budget for community action organizations.

Two years ago, TAP received $466,000 from the state. In Gov. Tim Kaine's current budget, that amount is projected to be less than $74,000 -- an 85 percent cut.

The money is core funding TAP uses as a match to capture millions of dollars more in grants, TAP President Ted Edlich said.

If the cuts stand, TAP will lose the ability to attract $6 million to $7 million in grants -- or about a third of TAP's annual budget, Edlich said.

And that translates to at least 1,000 families that will lose services.

"It's certainly the worst financial situation I've had to face," Edlich said. "We're talking about a hell of a lot more than belt tightening."

It could also lead to an overhaul of the way TAP functions, added Owen Schultz, TAP vice president for resources and planning.

Edlich would like to see the $1 million in the budget for community action agencies such as TAP expanded by $5 million using Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds. All of last year's funding came from TANF money.

But with $2.3 billion in spending reductions proposed over the coming two years, it will be a hard sell.

Two members of Roanoke's General Assembly delegation, Del. Onzlee Ware and Sen. John Edwards, said they will offer budget amendments on behalf of TAP.

"I know that everybody knows the community service boards are important," said Ware, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. "The question is what the philosophy of the new administration is going to be, and, quite frankly, where the money is going to come from." He doesn't want to hurt other worthy programs in the process.

Edwards likes TAP's argument that any funding they get, they'll multiply it.

"They do a better job of leveraging federal and state dollars than any organization I've ever seen," Edwards said. "The counter argument is, there's no money."

But he vowed to "fight the good fight."

This unprecedented crisis for TAP comes, ironically, on the heels of its best year ever in terms of financial support. While it's basic federal funding has remained flat, and looks to do the same this year, the federal stimulus program pumped millions into the agency -- including $990,000 passed on by the state in last year's budget.

"We knew the stimulus would not last forever," Edlich said. But this is the other extreme.

Things have gotten leaner over time, Edlich said, in part because Kaine pushed to expand the reach of agencies such as TAP from covering 92 localities in the state to 121.

That expansion means more agencies sharing the money.

What Edlich and Schultz find aggravating is a decision to drastically cut funding to agencies that help the poor at a time when there is more need for them than ever.

"Obviously, in the governor's office, it wasn't a big priority," Edlich said.

It's like blowing a hole in the life raft, he said.

Without money from the state, "where the hell do you get the money?" Edlich asked. Local governments are strapped, and philanthropic giving is down.

"The hard part is when you have to start cutting into programs," he said, though he isn't at the point of deciding where to cut.

Any cuts will mean fewer people served. And in turn, TAP will need fewer people to serve them.

That means some of TAP's 360 employees might join the ranks of those the agency seeks to help.