Gov. John Baldacci does not want to raise taxes or dip into the rainy-day fund to fill a budget hole that has now grown to $190 million and instead released a plan Wednesday that cuts $34 million out of state aid to schools and $27 million out of already diminished health and human services accounts.
The reductions proposed Wednesday – including lesser cuts in other departments and the elimination of 71 state jobs – add up to $95 million and are on top of $95 million in cuts announced earlier this year. In the first round, health and human services was cut by $65 million.
“The slowing national economy has placed Maine in a difficult financial position, but the same factors are also hurting Maine families and businesses. Now is not the time to add to their burdens,” by raising taxes, the governor said.
The cuts he’s proposing, however, would shift some of the tax burden onto local property taxpayers to pay for schools. Instead of increasing state aid to school districts, as promised, the budget is essentially flat funding it at a time when costs continue to rise.
Baldacci cut state aid to education by $36 million last year and Wednesday announced additional cuts of $34 million. The latest round includes $23 million that is allocated to cities and towns based on their enrollment and property values and another $11 million for everything from school bus purchases to capital improvement money given to private academies that accept state tuition students.
The budget also cuts special needs reimbursement from 84 percent of costs to 50 percent for property rich towns along the coast that get that money in lieu of any other state education aid. And, it cuts $9 million out of higher education – $2 million from the Community College System and $7 million from state universities.
Baldacci also included language in his latest budget package that would keep school consolidation moving forward and essentially thwart an amendment currently in the Legislature that would allow school unions and empowered local school committees with budget authority.
That union amendment is attached to a bill outlining changes the Department of Education wants and Baldacci included the department’s proposal in his budget, freeing him up to veto whatever the Legislature passes if he doesn’t like it.
House Appropriation’s Committee Chairman Rep. Jeremy Fischer, D-Presque Isle, speaking at a review of the budget Wednesday afternoon, said he thought the governor was overstepping his bounds.
“This was stuck in the budget,” said Fischer regarding the consolidation language. “I think it is the wrong place to put it.”
The only fee increases in the budget are ones designed to protect State Police staffing levels. They include raising the price on state background checks from $25 to $31 and raising the license fee for out-of-state manufacturers of malt liquor and wine from $600 to $1,000 – the same fee now paid by in-state producers.
The $190 million in cuts, which must now be approved or amended by the Legislature, are on a two-year state budget that adds up to just over $6 billion.
Republican Minority Leader Sen. Carol Weston said Baldacci’s package shows he understands the problem of spending in Augusta and the burden it puts on taxpayers.
“It’s not that they’re not sending enough to Augusta, it’s how we’re spending it,” Weston said.
She said Republicans are in the process of reviewing Baldacci’s proposed cuts to make sure they’re being made in the right places.
House Speaker Glenn Cummings worried that some cuts could hurt future growth, particularly those proposed in higher education.
“We’re all being affected by the national economic downturn,” said Cummings. “The Legislature will be giving the governor’s proposal a very thorough review. Certainly at a time when people need better training, improved job skills and a health safety net, we must make certain that these cuts are not shortsighted.”
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