Now that Gov. John Kitzhaber has released his counterproposal, he and lawmakers can get down to the business of negotiating how to rebalance the two-year state budget.

Unlike a Feb. 1 plan by the Legislature's chief budget writers, the Democratic chief executive said Thursday he wants to tap reserves to avert the closure of Santiam Correctional Institution in Salem, block a further shift of inmates to other temporary beds, and ease or cancel some smaller cuts in education and human services.

"I am proposing strategic and targeted reductions to rebalance the state budget with a focus on putting limited resources where they can do the most good," Kitzhaber said. "We must maintain critical services and public safety even as we make workforce reductions."

He also proposed a different way to attain $28 million in savings that lawmakers want to carve from middle-management and public-affairs positions, personal-services contracts and advertising by agencies. The state's chief operating officer, Michael Jordan, said lawmakers are within their rights to set an overall target but not to dictate details of how agencies should achieve it.