In the final hours of the Minnesota 2008 legislative session, hundreds of thousands of dollars were cut in an attempt to alleviate a nearly-one-billion-dollar deficit.
Among the victims getting their wings clipped were airports.

A total of 15-million dollars was slashed from the state airports fund.
Those cuts are expected to have a three-point-eight million dollar impact on the Duluth International Airport.

It's the news several agencies hoped they wouldn't hear.
Millions of dollars in funding has been pulled from airports across the State of Minnesota.

"These funds were taken two years ago," said Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon, DFL--Duluth. " We worked hard, we restored them last year and it's unfortunate they were taken this year."

A disappointed U-S Congressman Jim Oberstar said quote "This 15 million dollar cut was made from the trust fund with no consideration for paying this money back in the future. This was not a loan; it was a raid on a fund that was built-up to keep Minnesota's economy strong."

"This is a dire time for us. We're an airport authority that has not relied on any subsidy-taxpayer subsidy for over 30 years now," said Brian Ryks of the Duluth Airport Authority.

The three-point-eight million in slashed funding to the Duluth International Airport does not stop at the state-level.

"All said there was about seven-point-five million that these state funds were going to match," said Ryks.

City officials say the losses will have a detrimental effect to the Duluth economy.

"The decision was a major setback to the private sector efforts to invest in the State of Minnesota and our community," said Duluth Mayor, Don Ness.

The Duluth Airport Authority says the region's aviation sector provides more than 44-hundred jobs and generates one-point-three billion in annual impact.

Prettner Solon says the legislature will be fighting hard in the future to see that the funds are restored.

The Duluth Airport Authority says a new passenger terminal, a general aviation redevelopment project and business development plan to attract prospect aviation companies to the area have been put on hold.