The Oregon Legislature convened Monday, Aug. 10, for a special session where decisions will be made that will reverberate across the state.

That’s because lawmakers are getting together to find out how they will balance the state’s budget — as mandated by the Oregon Constitution — and we hope they make prudent and sensible decisions.

That may be harder than one would think. Especially now in the middle of a pandemic. The pandemic is now the central driving force of most government decisions and the session that began Aug. 10 is Exhibit A. The whole purpose of the session is to address the state’s nearly $2 billion shortfall to the general fund because of lost tax revenues due to the COVID-19 virus.

Arguing about whether masks are necessary or questioning the state’s restrictions regarding COVID-19 is one thing, but voters should take heed this week as lawmakers have a choice between using a scalpel or an ax to make cuts to state agencies and programs.

The effort to make a sensible decision regarding budget cuts won’t be easy for lawmakers. Every special interest there is will climb out of the woodwork and inundate the Oregon Capitol to try to guard their funding pie. Who could blame them? No one wants to see their agencies or programs get decapitated financially.

The reality, though, is a lot of money is going to have to come from somewhere to fill in the $2 billion gap. And that money isn’t going to just appear out of the ground like the phoenix.

Instead, money that spearheads a wide spectrum of programs — many of them that help ordinary voters — will be gobbled up to make up for the shortfall.

It would be nice if lawmakers faced more choices, but they don’t. They must balance the budget.

We hope that as the pressure rises — from voters and special interest groups — our elected leaders remain focused on doing what is right and conducting cuts in a fair and concise manner. If the pandemic has proven anything, it is a malady that doles out discomfort on an equal basis. One way or another, we are all impacted.

The same should be for budget cuts. They should be fair and across the board. No one wants to see funding cut for important programs, but we are a state that financially has its back against the wall.

Hopefully, our lawmakers will make the right choices, no matter how hard they are.