AUGUSTA – They sang, chanted and waved signs.
They crowded State House halls and braved brutal cold and a brisk wind to speak and shout at outdoor rallies.
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Citizens for and against Gov. Paul LePage’s budget converged Thursday on the State House as legislators for a second day considered making significant changes to state employees’ retirement and health benefits.
At a morning rally, about 70 LePage supporters said they want the governor — who has been in office less than two months — to stand up to state workers’ unions and move forward with the changes in the two-year, $6.1 billion budget.
“They’re not in a special class by themselves,” said Roberta Vorhis of Jefferson. “I was here yesterday and a lot of union people came here to say ‘me, me, me,’ whining, and we all have to tighten up in these times.”
At a noon rally, more than 400 union members said LePage is breaking a longstanding obligation to state workers.
“It’s wrong to take another 2 percent of my pay to give tax breaks to the estates of multimillionaires in Maine,” said Tamra Keaton of Caribou, an employee of the state Department of Health and Human Services.
The rallies, which prompted the state to bring in additional uniformed and plainclothes police officers, came as the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee focused on proposed changes to state workers’ and retirees’ health insurance.
The changes would require retirees to pay a portion of their health care premiums based on their benefit level, and require state workers to be employed for at least 10 years, rather than five, to qualify for health benefits after they retire.
The most controversial proposal would require employees who retire after Jan. 1, 2012, to pay 100 percent of their health care premiums until they turn 65. That change would save the state $11.4 million over the two years starting July 1.
John Glowa Sr., 57, of South China said that provision would prevent him from retiring in 2012 as he had planned. He wants to open his own small business, a microfarm.
“State workers like myself, who had planned to retire well before age 65, will be forced to stay with the state long after they had planned to leave,” said Glowa, who has worked for the state for nearly 25 years. “This is no way to run a business or a government and no way to treat your employees.”
Earlier in the day, LePage appeared at the rally organized by WLOB radio personality Ray Richardson and Matt Mattingly, executive director of a new group called Of the People, which supports conservative ideals.
As wind whipped between the State House and the state office building, supporters huddled in a patch of sun while LePage gave brief remarks.
Alongside a LePage campaign banner, they held signs that said “Collective Bankrupting,” “The Well is Dry” and “End Union Greed.” They stuck an American flag, a tea party flag and a POW/MIA flag in the snow, recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the national anthem.
“We are going to reduce our debts,” LePage said. “Everybody is going to have to share in the pain and, we must be doing our job, because every single constituency is looking at their needs and complaining at what we’re trying to do.”
Later in the day, union members gathered outside the state office building holding signs that said “Betrayal,” “My Pension Is My Social Security” and “Save the Middle Class.”
Members of the Maine State Employees Association were joined in the protest by members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
“We don’t need a budget that attacks working Maine families,” said MSEA President Bruce Hodsdon.
Brenda Kaler of Augusta, who spent 36 years in state administrative services, said she was promised cost-of-living increases of as much as 4 percent a year. LePage’s budget proposes a three-year freeze in the increase and a 2 percent cap after that.
Kaler said her monthly retirement check is $1,380, which totals $16,560 a year. She described it as a modest benefit, especially since state workers are ineligible for Social Security.
“Those promises were made in exchange for a lifetime of work by Maine’s public workers, teachers and retirees,” she said. “The governor is asking our state legislators to throw the state of Maine’s promises out the window.”
On the other side, Ray Hutton of Bath, who worked for 42 years in information technology in the private sector, attended the morning rally. Now retired, he fixes and sells computers out of his home.
“We’re spending too much,” he said. “We’ve got to cut back. I’m retired and I don’t get a lot of these benefits. I think Gov. LePage’s proposals are reasonable, common sense proposals. We’ve got to support him.”
MaineToday Media State House Writer Susan Cover can be contacted at 620-7015 or at:
scover@mainetoday.com
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