Groups wary of merging state departments
1/8/10 | 16 comments
Budget

Groups wary of merging state departments


By Kevin Miller
BDN Staff

AUGUSTA, Maine — Groups representing farmers, sportsmen, commercial fishermen and loggers criticized a Baldacci administration proposal to study once again ways to improve collaboration among Maine’s natural resources agencies, dismissing it as a backdoor attempt to merge the departments.

Last winter, Gov. John Baldacci proposed creating a single natural resources “superagency” by merging the Departments of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife; Marine Resources; Conservation; and Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources. The administration forecast the merger would save the state $1.5 million annually.

The proposal met vehement opposition from constituent groups served by those departments and ultimately failed to win legislative support.

With the state facing an additional $438 million shortfall, Baldacci has proposed creating a working group to find $1.25 million in savings from the four departments through June 2011. If the group fails to reach its target, the State Budget Office would impose additional cuts expected on the agencies to cover the gap.

Karin Tilberg, the governor’s senior policy adviser on natural resources issues, said Thursday that a key focus of the working group would be implementing eight recommendations from an earlier task force that studied the issue.

Those recommendations include a single license-issuing system for all the departments, co-locating regional offices, creating a single entity to manage all public lands, and giving the Department of Conservation responsibility for all boat launches.

“What we are trying to suggest here is let’s take some ideas that already have merit and see if we can put them together to find some of the money that we need,” Tilberg told members of the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee.

Some observers believe the administration is still determined to merge the agencies, however.

“Regardless of what is being presented here, this is really the first step toward natural resources consolidation, which we are opposed to,” said Jon Olson, executive secretary for the Maine Farm Bureau. Unlike many industries in Maine, the agriculture industry is growing and consolidating the departments would rob farmers of a direct representative within the governor’s Cabinet, Olson said.

David Cousens, a fisherman and president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, also interpreted the latest working group as a step toward consolidation.

Cousens, whose organization served on the 2008 task force that created the eight recommendations, said he resented the fact that there are no representatives from any regulated industries on the latest working group.

Earlier this year, lobstermen and other commercial fishermen agreed to pay more for their licenses in order to minimize budget cuts to the Department of Marine Resources. Cousens urged lawmakers to look elsewhere for savings rather than cut DMR field staff needed to keep Maine’s massive lobster industry afloat.

“The industry has stepped up and is paying a lot more,” Cousens said. “I pay $800 a year for tags, and I’m not complaining … But don’t cut the budget, don’t cut them any more, and don’t consolidate. Consolidation is not going to save them any more” money.

George Smith with the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine said he calculated that state funding now accounts for less than 2 percent of the total budgets for the natural resources agencies. The rest is generated by fees — such as hunting, fishing or snowmobiling licenses — or other nonstate sources.

Smith accused Baldacci of starving the agencies and called the governor’s latest working group proposal “the funeral for natural resources agencies in Maine.”

“If these agencies had $1,250,000 in savings to offer up, the governor and this committee would already have taken it,” Smith told the lawmakers. “Indeed, you’ve cut too deeply already into agencies and missions that define our quality of life and make us proud to be Mainers.”

Other organizations that testified in opposition to the working group or submitted testimony in opposition included the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine, the Maine Snowmobile Association, the Maine Aquaculture Association and the Maine Forest Products Council.

Public hearings on the governor’s supplemental budget continue today and are slated to run through next Thursday. For a detailed schedule of public hearing topics, go to www.maine.gov/legis/house/jt_com/afa.htm.

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Comments
16 comments on this item
On 1/7/10 at 9:38 PM, JWBooth wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

$1.2-million savings by shuffling some desks around and changing some letterheads?

Who's kidding whom?

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On 1/7/10 at 10:24 PM, mike_staples wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

"DMR field staff needed to keep Maine’s massive lobster industry afloat."

State Agencies provide "floatation" like a millstone around your neck.

Lobster trap tags were sold to us on the promise that they would only be used to count traps and at 10 cents, would just cover the cost of manufacturing and shipping. In a few years the price has quadrupled. It's a little under a GRAND for the tags and license every year now!

But Mr Cousens is not complaining? That's why so many of us want nothing to do with Maine Lobsterman's Association.......

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On 1/7/10 at 10:56 PM, blueskiesaboveme wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
On 1/7/10 at 11:29 PM, Bangorian wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I'm not sure that the State actually has the ability to merge departments. Several years ago an effort was made to merge mental health services and the child welfare system, yet they continue today to essentially operate as seperate departments, each with their own administrative overhead.

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On 1/8/10 at 5:05 AM, watchdogME wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

If the state wants to balance the budget they need to stop spending on large and unnecessary civic projects. Between last year and this Maine will spend $173,000,000 on just 4 new schools. The old schools could have been rehabbed or wood single story buildings would have sufficed but no, they had to build university class schools. Now they cannot afford to pay teachers and may even have to reduce school days to balance a budget. These schools are monuments to fiscal stupidity!

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On 1/8/10 at 5:52 AM, mcrafty1 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I would comment here but whats the point, BDN won't post my comments anyway, this blog is about pitting commenter against commenter not opinions about what BDN prints in this rag that is plain enough to see......

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On 1/8/10 at 6:21 AM, downbeat wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

hey guys.. we are broke!!!! Time to restructure and stop wasting money, like new schools in towns of 1000 people and nobody is working...hopefully our next group of leaders will deal with reality and get state goverment down to the size we can sustain...lower taxes to attract jobs and then the tax revenues will come in...private sector is the engine that brings in money.. time to stop screwing employers..

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On 1/8/10 at 6:25 AM, mcrafty1 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

watchdogme, well put.

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On 1/8/10 at 6:49 AM, poormainiac wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Thank God we are approaching the end of the Baldacci administration. It may take years to repair the damage he's done. I guess we'll all have to eat sphagetti !

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On 1/8/10 at 8:30 AM, mcrafty1 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

poormainiac wrote:

Thank God we are approaching the end of the Baldacci administration. It may take years to repair the damage he's done. I guess we'll all have to eat sphagetti !

Don't hold your breath on this one, as long as the majority of voters are voting their party as opposed to using their common sense it will be tax and spend as usual in the Blain House....

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On 1/8/10 at 8:41 AM, scooterj62 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Baldy tells us that consolidation will save 1.25 million. We should believe him. After all, look at how much we saved on consolidating the schools and school districts! Our state is being legislated to death. When big budget problems exist, we spend 50 million on a school and plan to put warning labels on cell phones. I am beginning to think that fixing Augusta is no longer possible. The arrogance of state government is unbelievable. We need a new state constitutional convention to start all over.

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On 1/8/10 at 8:52 AM, mainelion wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Consolidating the same cluesless people into fewer departments is not going to stop the spending of hundreds of millions on computer systems that don't work, or the "losing" of hundreds of milllions more by corrupt bureaucrats, or paying public "servants" to stay home whenever it snows. It's time to clean house and fire all of the incompetent political appointees and cronies and make state and local government work again. A good place to start would be a complete, independent audit of every state agency. Don't hold your breath though. Too many skeletons in that closet. There's a better chance that OJ will find the real killer.

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On 1/8/10 at 9:19 AM, tepme2002 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Again Baldy, drop the Dirigo Health Plan. It's a financial vacuum.

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On 1/8/10 at 9:25 AM, GixxerRider wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

why not consolidate, the bald moron has already screwed up everthing else in the state why not continue his path of destruction into the last remaining industry we have. At this point tourism is about all this state has left, people come here to snowmobile, hunt, fish, enjoy our scenic parks, hike, camp etc. This move will hurt our fishing and agriculture industries as well. Consolidate or eliminate DHHS agencies, get rid of half the wacko case workers who need more help than the public they are supposed to assist. Cut salaries of high level over paid positions in state government. There are far better ways than this lame brained plan. I am soo glad that the bald idiot's term is almost over, then he can go back to Bangor and focus his attention on ruining the family restaurant. Maybe if he hadnt given the tax breaks to his buddies in real estate and skiing then we wouldnt have such a large budget shortfall

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On 1/8/10 at 11:46 AM, MaineGuy50 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

mcrafty1 - how true!

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On 1/9/10 at 6:40 AM, poormainiac wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

A story on how much the state house ( salaries and expenses ) cost us would make great reading. In depth and including all department heads and staff !

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