State lawmakers are faced with the challenge of plugging a $935 million budget deficit.

That's nearly three times greater than the deficit projected in November. It’s also the deepest projected shortfall since 2003, when a $4.5 billion deficit forced massive budget cuts.

Governor Pawlenty is ruling out tax increases to fill in the budget gap. Instead, he's considering the use of current reserves, dedicated accounts and spending cuts.

But talk of spending cuts has become cause for concern to many groups including non-profits, which are now waiting for word on how they might be affected.

Folks at Neighbors Food Shelf, in South St. Paul, are bracing for word on what future state budget cuts could mean to them at a time when funding needs are growing faster than ever before.

"We served, in 2007, more than twice the number of people than in 2001. So in that six-year period, it's more than doubled," Dan Russell, of Neighbors Inc. said.

Times have gotten so tough, that some of the very people who once provided help at the food shelf, are among those in need of its services.

In all, Minnesota food shelves saw nearly 2 million visits last year.

Nowadays, donations aren't keeping pace with the demand. That’s why Colleen Moriarty, the head of Hunger Solutions Minnesota, will go to the state capitol next week.

"I know it's tough times. But my job is to say, ‘here are the people that I represent. Here is the need,’" Moriarty said.

She’s now faced with asking for more money from a government that is forced to make huge cuts to its budget.

Meanwhile, thousands of other non-profits across the state are facing the same situation. And as Jay Kiedrowski, of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, points out – getting more money won’t be easy.

"We're on a fiscal roller coaster," Kiedrowski said. "And frankly, we're going too fast, and the dips are too large, and the hills are too high."

Kiedrowski, a former state commissioner of finance, says the state's budget crisis is bad. However, it’s only about a quarter as problematic as it was in 2003.

Still, those big cuts are coming and will likely take a significant toll on non-profit groups, local governments and higher education.

"I think everywhere you turn, I think the governor and the legislature's going to be looking to solve the problem," Kiedrowski said.

And that solution will leave many agencies, and possibly food shelves, hungry for funds.