Following a month of public hearings, lawmakers have turned their attention to studying the details of Gov. John Baldacci’s biennial budget proposal, looking for ways to stretch resources and avoid cuts in services.
The process has been unique because of the more than $900 million in federal stimulus dollars that are coming to Maine. Many discussions in the past month have revolved around the stimulus cash, creating uncertainty about exactly how far spending will have to be curtailed to match falling revenues.
Sen. Bill Diamond (D-Windham), co-chairman of the Appropriations Committee, acknowledged the uncertainty.
“There have been challenges, but I think we’ve lined up everything in a methodical way so we can approach each item by itself,” Diamond said.
The Legislature’s policy committees will spend most of this week working on parts of the budget under their jurisdiction, with the goal of reporting back to the Appropriations Committee next week.
“We’re very concerned about the safety net for our most vulnerable citizens,” said Sen. Joseph Brannigan (D-Portland), the Senate chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee. “We really haven’t reached a point of decisions on a lot of things.”
Brannigan expected his committee to focus on softening cuts in funding to hospitals, mental health services, long-term care and children’s programs – and he said the stimulus funding will only help.
In education, the effect of the stimulus funding is less clear. Education Commissioner Susan Gendron was in Washington, D. C. early this week to explore the issue with hopes of reporting back to the Legislature on her return.
Sen. Justin Alfond (D-Portland), who co-chairs the Education Committee, said he’s troubled by the extent of the cuts proposed by Baldacci.
“We’re facing some tough elements,” said Alfond. “It’s hard for me to grapple with cuts to adult education when we have record numbers of people applying for more adult ed courses.”
Alfond said he’s also interested in preserving scholarship programs for Maine students and softening the pain for Maine’s cultural agencies, though he doesn’t know how that can be accomplished until more is known about stimulus funding.
“We really have an incomplete discussion happening and it’s creating a lot of anxiety among legislators,” he said.
Ryan Low, commissioner of the Dept. of Administrative and Financial Services, said the stimulus funding for education is “unique” and that he anticipates more details about it as eagerly as do lawmakers.
“[Stimulus dollars for education] will be a big part of the budget discussion,” said Low. “Everything that we’ve seen has shown that the way we interpreted it seems to be very close, but you never know what provisions will be in the federal rule.”
Besides the stimulus funding, the fate of the state’s school administration consolidation law is complicating discussions. A citizen-initiated repeal of the law requires either legislative approval or a statewide vote in November, and lawmakers have submitted approximately 40 other bills that would change the law in various ways, said Alfond. Any change to the consolidation law enacted by the Legislature this session is required to appear as a question competing against the citizen-initiated repeal on the November ballot.
“We’d like to look at them and work on them but I do not believe we want to create a competing measure on the ballot,” Alfond said. “We are basically handcuffed.”
Sen. Richard Rosen (R-Bucksport), the ranking Senate Republican on the Appropriations Committee, said a lot is riding on the details of the stimulus package.
“The takeaway is that the process really is only just beginning,” Rosen said. “I’m reserving judgment on this budget until I better understand what the governor is proposing to do with the stimulus funding.”
Diamond said he hopes the budget can be enacted by April 17.
(Statehouse News Service)
