AUGUSTA, Maine – The tempo of budget writing will speed up over the next 10 days as leaders of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee have scheduled a public hearing next Tuesday afternoon on the more than $25 million in budget cuts recommended by the budget streamlining task force.
Some of the cuts are needed to help with the Medicaid shortfall lawmakers are trying to close.
“There is $3.2 million in savings in that bill for this year and we have assumed that in the budget we are working on,” Rep. Pat Flood, R-Winthrop, co-chairman of the panel, said in an interview. “So, we need to get that bill taken care of.”
The leaders of the panel met to discuss the streamlining bill and progress on the Medicaid budget revisions. Most of the work on the $221 million Medicaid shortfall has been done in partisan caucuses with only a few votes taken on the scores of budget cutting proposals.
“Maybe we can get the streamlining bill done Tuesday night,” said Sen. Richard Rosen, R-Bucksport, the other co-chairman of the panel. He served on the task force that held meetings and hearings through the summer and fall to find savings needed to balance the second year of the budget.
“Some of those proposals will yield savings towards the supplemental we are working on,” said Sen. Dawn Hill, D-York, a member of the task force and the Democratic senator on the committee. She said it is important for the panel to move on the task force bill as soon as possible and book those savings.
The Streamline and Prioritize Core Government Services Task Force identified budget cuts across state government, some one-time and others that will result in ongoing savings.
“We are making progress as we go through all of these painful cuts,” said Rep. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, the Democratic lead on the panel. “But this is tough going.”
Panel members continue to have questions about the details of many of the Medicaid proposals and call staff from the Department of Health and Human Services into both public sessions and into partisan caucuses to explain how proposals will work and what impact they will have on Mainers getting the services.
“There are also several specific DHHS items in the streamlining bill that are also in the supplemental [budget] and we have to make sure that we are not counting savings twice,” Flood said.
DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew said her agency proposed several cuts to the task force that are in the supplemental budget bill.
“For example, the issue pertaining to the Suboxone two-year limit, that was focused on state fiscal year ’13, we are proposing to start in fiscal year ‘12,” she said. “That will get us some savings this year.”
Suboxone is a widely used medicine for opiate addicts and the proposed cut has been controversial. Several doctors have warned the limits could lead to drug addicts relapsing after the treatment is cut off.
Mayhew said she understands the pressure the committee is under because she feels it herself. She said if the budget is not done by Feb. 1, which it apparently will not be, it increases the size of the problem.
“We know that in order to advance these initiatives and to get them implemented and to get the other processes that need to take place, this budget has to be moved forward as quickly as possible,” she said, “It’s why we submitted it in early December, it’s why hearings were held in December.”
The committee plans to meet all of Friday and Saturday, both in caucuses and in public work sessions. Members do not plan to meet on Sunday, even though the committee is willing to meet.
“We are not meeting Sunday because we do not have a waiver to meet,” Flood told the panel.
During the committee leadership meeting, all lawmakers expressed frustration that new security screening procedures at the State House mean meeting publicly after hours and on weekends is expensive because of the additional security staff needed to screen members of the public entering the building.
I wonder how much we could save if the legislature cut there own free healthcare plans and joined Dirigo and payed for it out of their greedy pockets?
At the size and expense of Dirigo, I’m guessing adding the entire legislature would almost double the number of people on it, and those approximately 200 additional people would cost about $50 million. LOL.
The last I knew there were about 15000 of us with dirigo but it has been open for enrollment since paul got in so there must be more people by now.
Some members of the Appropriations Committee have turned this whole thing into a sideshow. CUT THE BUDGET and make the necessary structural reforms to prevent this Medicaid spending monster from ever coming back to threaten our state’s economic well being!! Support Governor LePage and fix this mess once and for all. This is getting ridiculous.
This sideshow is nothing compared to the three ring circus being run by Mr LePage and crew.
According to Ms Mayhew they produced a proposed revised budget for DHHS in early December. As I recall the members ( Demo and Repub ) requested facts and numbers to back up the proposals.
Early January the Appropriations Committee meets again and the meeting is adjourned by the Republican Chair do to a lack of information the could substantiated. Mid January Ms Mayhew finally facts and figures to be verified by independent review. The last report I saw said the independent review was still not complete.
So here we are at the end of January and it appears that the Apprpriations Committee working in a bipartism is slowly coming to a reasonable compromise. To slow for Mr Lepage and crew. Reminds me of trying to buy a car from a used car salesman. They do not want you to look to close or to long — you might see the lemon they are trying to sell.
On another note if Ms Mayhew struggled coming up with the facts and figures until mid January it would lead one to think that she provided a revised budget in early December that could not be substantiated. Sounds like the shell game at the circus.
Thankfully it appears that both parties are trying to do the best by the citizens of Maine.
The facts are simple and have not changed. The DHHS budget is 220 million dollars in the hole and Maine’s Medicaid entitlement program is 35% above the national average. Medicaid spending grew by 1 billion dollars (78%) since 2002. The problem is not in the education budget nor is the deficit in the transportation budget. The problem is Maine’s welfare entitlement program has grown too large and the Maine taxpayer cannot afford it. In order to move Maine forward, we now have a responsibility to fix this beast, before it gobbles up the remaining state budget in future years. Plain and simple. If you are opposed to cutting welfare, then what other budgets do you propose we cut?
I did not say I was opposed cutting welfare. What I did say is that it appeared that our leiglators both Repud and Demo were working to try and do the best they could for all of the citizens of Maine. I did question if Ms Mayhew was providing sufficient and timely information to help them in their deliberations.
Balancing the budget is balancing the budget. If your household budget was coming up short for groceries would you just give up eating or would you look over your entire budget to see where you could make some cuts so you could buy some hamburger while you gave up buying the rib eye steak ?
I think we’re closer on this issue than you realize. If my household budget did not allow me to buy rib eye steak, then I would certainly not buy it. I would buy the london broil instead. This is called budgeting. Presently, the Maine Medicaid entitlement program is the Filet Mignon because it is 35% above the national average. Indeed, it’s about time to bring it down to the national average and I’m all in favor of the london broil. You came up with a terrific analogy.
To assume that 1 out of 4 Mainers who currently receive Medicaid are all disabled is ludicrous and does not pass the straight face test. Cut the FAT and bring Medicaid back down to the national average, which is the most reasonable and affordable approach.
Where are Lepage’s recommendations? Lepage yells and bullies old and sick people but so far all he has done is raise taxes and increase spending by %7 more then the Democrats..
Can you please provide your links to these erroneous claims?
I only have links to my truthful claims.
You should already know this stuff but 2011 Lepage signed his first 2 year budget totaling 6.1 billion. By signing it he was attesting that it was balanced.Baldy’s final two year budget total was 5.8 billion.http://www.pressherald.com/archive/baldacci-to-sign-two-year-budget-with-heavy-cuts_2009-07-26.html
Impeach LaPage…
What for? For doing his job, unlike his predecessor.
Looks like the people in Australia got a jump start on Maine voters and taxpayers, eh?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/australian-pm-julia-gillard-forced-to-flee-mob-at-australia-day-event/2012/01/26/gIQA2WnFTQ_blog.html
01/26/2012
Australian PM Julia Gillard forced to flee mob at Australia Day event
Bad news. Hooligans
I apologize on their behalf LOL
Oh Oh…..
http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2012/01/protesters-disrupt-nm-legislative-dinner/2139366
Protesters disrupt NM legislative dinner
01/26/12
Legislators say protesters disrupted a conservative group’s
private dinner at a Santa Fe hotel and a female guest of a lawmaker was
injured.
The disruption came Wednesday after members of the
Santa Fe’s version of the national protests against Wall Street
demonstrated outside the El Dorado Hotel.
Rep. Dennis Kintigh, a Roswell Republican and retired
FBI agent, said four to six protesters entered the dining room during a
dinner sponsored by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a
corporate-backed conservative nonprofit.
Why must they have these dinners at a hotel when they have the state house and governors mansion that is already paid for ????? Look what that would save since the Governors mansion is already fully staffed !!!!! If I was Governor I would do alot of things diffrent at the way they foolishly spend money !!
One other thing , does anyone know what that cost for there evening at the Hotel ???
LaPage= taxcuts for the rich, screw everyone else.
I beg to differ. A single earner making $19,500 is not what I consider rich, nor is a couple making 39,000. These people benefited the most from the LePage tax cuts and you seem to think they’re rich. If they’re rich, then what is your definition of poor?
But who got the bulk of the money from the tax cut ? Those making 19,500 or those making over 100,000 ? It was based on a % of income — you do the math.
70,000 additional low income Mainers no longer pay state income taxes. From a math perspective, this is 0%. Are these people rich? Allowing them to get more than 0% would mean they would be receiving tax dollars. Is this what you propose? This is called welfare.
On the other hand, who do you believe benefited from the tax change exempting the first $2,000,000 of an inheritance from any tax at all (it was $1,000,0000 previously)?
Here’s a hint: middle class and poor people do not need the limit to be MORE than $1,000,000 — ever.
I checked the income tax rates for 2011 and 2012. A couple making $100,000 and filing jointly had a $27 tax cut.
I am trying to figure out wwhy we have such a gap from last year ? What did they add to the budget that makes it such a shortfall this year ? Im not sure how we keep coming up short since they keep cutting year after year ? Could someone please explain to me ? Thanks
The budget Lepage signed was %7 larger then Baldacci’s last budget..
Lepage’s budget also included a new $143 dollar per family, tax on health insurance. Money that was supposed to be used to cover the uninsured over at DHHS but now Lepage wants $225 million more.
We spend ten cents out of every tax dollar here in Maine on welfare programs. Anyone who thinks that we are going to solve our budget problems by stripping welfare programs is smoking some pretty good stuff. Poor Paul would do much better to focus on corporate subsidies and hand outs to his buddies as a means to tighten our belts. Of course, welfare is a much easier target, and bullies prefer easy targets.
Legalize marijuana, then tax it. This increases revenue and reduces cost of government in law enforcement and prison expenses. Plus, the tax is paid only by users.