Maine will regret the elimination of the State Planning Office.
Created in 1968, SPO became a consistent target for Republicans in the Legislature during the Baldacci administration. It looks as if they are close to destroying their target.
Last week, a working group signed off on a plan to eliminate the agency. Wednesday, its director Darryl Brown announced his resignation.
Dressed up as a move for efficiency, SPO will be gone, nine jobs will be eliminated and other tasks assigned to the office will be distributed to other state agencies. SPO will be replaced by a new Office of Management and Budget, including 10 new hires.
There’s no efficiency. SPO dies, but you’d have to be crazy to think that eliminating nine jobs while adding 10 new ones creates any efficiency. Unless I’ve lost my ability to add and subtract, the LePage administration is growing state government — again.
In addition, a new Office of Management and Budget is the headliner at the redundancy, repetition and duplication convention.
Already, Maine has a Department of Administrative and Financial Services, a State Budget Office and a State Auditor. Throw in the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability and the Legislature’s Office of Fiscal and Program Review and any number of s treamlining and efficiency task forces.
We’ve already got a long list of professionals looking for government efficiencies, managing state government and working on the budget.
A Maine version of the OMB is unnecessary and just another example of Republicans talking about making government smaller while actually growing it for their own, hard to discern reasons.
When it comes to moving the deck chairs around inside government, not too many people outside the system are likely to get upset. By the time they realize what’s going on — and how it could affect them — it’s too late.
Some of Maine’s most popular programs and important functions are housed at SPO, including the Land for Maine’s Future program, which has helped to protect more than 500,000 acres in Maine.
The Land for Maine’s Future is overwhelmingly popular with Maine voters, who recognize the importance of protecting access to some of the state’s most important areas. The program, which relies on bond funding for conservation, is not a Republican priority.
The State Planning Office also provides important support to local governments for planning and recycling. It’s the home of Maine’s Commission for Community Service and the Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security. It houses the Maine state economist, and it does a lot more, including the state’s broadband task force and floodplain management.
And the Planning Office is responsible for the state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill, which the state acquired in 2003. Oddly enough, the LePage administration is trying to destroy the State Planning Office at a time when it might need it more than ever.
As Bangor Daily News reporter Nick Sambides reported last week, there’s a growing dispute between state and local officials in Millinocket and East Millinocket concerning the Dolby Landfill.
The law authorizing the purchase of Dolby specifically names SPO as the owner and operator.
The state acquired the Dolby Landfill as part of a plan to save two paper mills in the region, but now there doesn’t appear to be a plan in place to manage the landfill, which without appropriate oversight could turn into a dangerous liability for the state.
While the administration has talked about moving responsibility for Juniper Ridge to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, to do so would be problematic.
DEP is responsible for regulating landfills. It’s a clear conflict of interest to have that same agency as a landfill owner.
But perhaps Gov. LePage isn’t bothered by such conflicts of interest. After all, his former DEP commissioner, who was forced to resign because of conflicts of interests, now heads the State Planning Office. After the fact, he changed the law to relax conflict standards.
Gov. LePage and his SPO hit team are working to eliminate one state agency and nine workers, replace it with another that’s bigger and they’re calling it efficiency.
It’s not. It’s the opposite.
But it’s more than just a question of spin and new look for a state office. SPO does important work that will not easily be accomplished by others. Local communities will likely feel the effects first, but they won’t be the only ones.
David Farmer is a political and media consultant. He was formerly deputy chief of staff and communications director for Gov. John Baldacci and a longtime journalist. You can reach him at dfarmer14@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @dfarmer14.
