BOSTON -- Gov. Deval Patrick announced a new round of budget cuts Thursday to close a $600 million gap, which includes cutting 2,000 state jobs.

The governor, faced with the need to make steep budget cuts, said he plans to try to avoid slashing Local Aid to cities and towns and education funding by giving communities more leeway to raise their own revenue.

Patrick said he made tough decisions in order to fully protect Local Aid for communities and Chapter 70 education aid for children, preserve vital human service programs and limit impacts on public safety.

"We will not cut our record investment in our children and in our schools. We will not shortchange our children's future," Patrick said. "We will not cut Local Aid. Local communities are the frontline of both our economic and our social life and they are struggling as it is."

Patrick, who spoke before a meeting of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, called on the legislature to enact his Municipal Partnership Act into law. The act would authorize new and expanded local taxing authority and close property tax loopholes.

The governor said he would cut spending by about $352 million, including $277 million from executive offices that he controls.

"We have had to ask our employees to do more with less," Patrick said.

Unions were asked to agree to contract revisions to reduce the number of layoffs required. But without union compromises, Patrick said he'd direct agencies to begin implementing their layoff plans.

"I have directed my cabinet to prepare layoff plans to achieve an additional $35 million in savings," Patrick said.

About 2,000 state jobs will be lost, the governor said. The cuts are set to begin next week, but it was unclear what departments would be affected.

About 4,000 managers within the executive branch will be required to take nine furlough days without pay, the governor said. The governor is also submitting legislation to eliminate Bunker Hill Day and Evacuation Day as paid holidays unique to Suffolk County, calling them "traditions whose time has passed."

Thirty-five thousand Suffolk County employees benefited from the holiday at a cost of $6 million, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

In addition to proposing solutions for immediately closing the gap, Patrick filed several proposals that he said will "improve the efficiency of state government and give agencies the ability to better manage their budgets."

Patrick said he'd work to phase out the Quinn Bill, which encourages police officers in participating municipalities to earn degrees in law enforcement and criminal justice and provides educational incentives through salary increases.

"We will file legislation to permit municipalities to discontinue their own share of Quinn Bill funding, if they choose," Patrick said.

Boston Mayor Tom Menino said Local Aid could still get cut in the end, however, and he said many communities, such as Boston, can't afford it.

"That's very difficult for a lot of us. We've taken some major hits in the last two years," Menino said. "I took the opportunity (to raise money) on the meals tax and the hotel tax and because I took the opportunity we were able to have $18 million that I put in reserve."

Sen. Richard Tisei issued a statement about the cuts, saying the day of "reckoning has arrived after years of mismanagement and overspending."

"What jumps out at me about Gov. Patrick's proposal is that he is resorting to budget cuts that will harm the state's most vulnerable residents, but he is still not doing anything to change the way the state does business," Tisei said.

"There were no easy decisions before us in closing this budget gap," said Administration and Finance Secretary Jay Gonzalez. "The governor and our team made the tough choices necessary to preserve key investments and commitments in areas like education health care and safety net services."