By Heather Hintze

SALEM, Ore. -- Oregon lawmakers will spend the next three weeks of the special session figuring out how to deal with a $180 million budget shortfall.

A revenue forecast released on Monday shows income tax collections are weaker than expected for the first eight months of the two-year budget. That leaves lawmakers with a $182 million hole to fill.

University of Oregon economist, Tim Duy, says in the scope of the $13 billion budget, $180 million isn't that big of a hole. But he says while the state may be able to get through the 2010-2011 biennium, they could be in an even bigger financial hole the next biennium.

"The growth that we need to achieve or to get things back on track becomes higher and higher. So, the bar becomes more difficult to cross the deeper the hole we go into now," said UO economist Tim Duy.

Duy says the U.S. economy saw a five-percent increase in the fourth quarter. But despite that, both the national and local levels have yet to see sustained job growth, and it could be a few years before Oregon sees multiple quarter growth to see improvements in our economic outlook.

One option legislators are looking at is to save $50 million by reducing business energy tax credits to wind farmers. Reports show the credits are no longer critical for the wind energy industry.