AUGUSTA, Maine – The commissioner of Maine’s Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management warned lawmakers this week that state funding cuts are putting millions of dollars in federal funds for his department in jeopardy because it is increasingly difficult to meet matching fund requirements.
“Maine National Guard facilities and operations and maintenance is shared between the federal and state governments at 75 and 25 percent respectively,” Maj. Gen. John Libby (Ret.) said Wednesday. “We are dangerously close at this point in time in terms of the state share in not meeting the cooperative agreement.”
Libby told members of the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee that his agency relies on federal funds for a wide range of programs and that every time his agency has to find $25,000 in state cuts to help balance the budget, he loses $75,000 in federal funds.
“If you do the rough math we are over $300 million that we bring into the state on a $3.5 million budget,” he said. “That’s not a bad investment for the state, I would argue, both in terms of its service to the nation and its service to the state.”
Libby said having a basic operational infrastructure in place has allowed the agency to get 100-percent federal funding for some programs and projects. He is concerned further reductions in state funding will jeopardize that ability.
Rep. Mike Carey, D-Lewiston, asked Libby when the state would hit the “tipping point” and actually lose federal funds.
“We’re there now, it could happen this year,” Libby responded. He said he has talked with Gov. Paul LePage, budget officials and members of the Appropriations Committee warning them of the “unintended consequences” of cuts in state funding to his agency.
“Every time we are asked to do something as simple as eliminate a maintenance mechanic because I have to find $35,000 in the budget, we put $105,000 of federal money at risk,” he said.
Finance Commissioner Sawin Millett said in an interview that the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management is not the only state agency that has agreements with federal funding sources that require the state to provide a match to receive the federal dollars.
“I am very much aware of the need to maintain our effort on all of those federal match programs that trigger substantial benefits for the state of Maine,” he said. “We keep that in mind all of the time.”
Millett said it has been a difficult process as the state has sought to reduce budgets to keep spending within revenues. He said while every agency was asked to take some reduction in spending to help with the $25 million needed to balance the second year of the state budget, all the cuts in the measure were proposed by the agencies.
“Everyone is bumping up against limits,” he said. “It is very difficult for everyone.”
In his presentation to the VLA Committee, Libby laid out the economic impact the agency has on the state, principally with the Army and National Guard detachments. He said in addition to Camp Keyes in Augusta with its staff, there is the Air National Guard base in Bangor as well as a training center in Bangor and several state armories.
“The math is pretty clear,” he said.
Libby said the expenditures for the Army National Guard in the state are roughly $105 million a year. Another $135 million a year is spent on Air National Guard programs and $60 million a year is spent by the Veterans Bureau.
In addition, Libby said, there are the operations of the Maine Military Authority in Aroostook County that overhaul military vehicles for use by both active duty and guard units throughout the military. He is hopeful they may get some additional work to overhaul excess equipment for sale to other countries.
keep cutting your not even close yet
When is the BDN going to realize that the federal gravy train is coming to an end? The states are running out of money first and the feds will be right behind. The days of unlimited Obamabucks are over.
The first people to decry cuts in the defense budget are the radical right “we have to be strong” tea party republicans. They are also the ones who are constantly looking for a new war to get into. Now we are finding out that the hero of the tea party has been cutting funds that are needed to keep our Air and Nation Guard well equipped , supplied and trained. We keep sending these citizen soldiers off to war and now Governor LePage has cut their budget. Shame on you Mr. LePage you make a big deal out of your support for the Guard when you are getting a ride on a KC-135 but then stick it to the brave men and women of the Guard who defend our way of life when it comes to properly funding them. First it was state workers, then it was murals, then the poor and the environment and then the poor once again and now it is the people who volunteer to put their lives on the line to defend our freedom that you are taking away from.
Veterans always take the hit. Veterans and our elderly and our poor. Nice.
Yes they do and frankly it sucks. The conservatives have already started beating the drums of war for a war against Iran. They love the troops just like they claim to love children right up until the time comes to spend their precious tax dollar on them. Then the only word they seem to know is CUT.
The owner of the BDN is also on the board of trustee’s of the Maine Maritime Academy. Hence, is why the MMA’s subsidy of $9,000,000 was increased.. while the rest of the state funded functions are being gutted. Nearly 1/2 of the student body are not even Maine youth.
Maine’s Department of Defense ?
Cut that out.
It is redundant.
agreed lets let the govermainer do his job and cut this department .. libbys a leftover political hack from baldy anyway….. bye bye mr libby time to retire .. and by the way are you not over the mandatory retirement age?? hows that happen? go quietly you’ve done the state more damage than anyone in history .
This sounds like a message from the Blaine House.
no it a message from an overtaxed mainer!! kick the remnant dems from spending anymore im sick of it-and believe me it has personally cost me money to float these fat cats -have you paid your share in you a 99 er?
I just checked the 2011 and 2012 income tax rates for Maine. If you make anything over $40,700 taxable income and you file jointly, you save $27. What happened to Governor LePage’s tax cut?
Now figure it if you made over $200,000 I bet you save a little more than $27.
“This sounds like a message from the Blaine House.”
Because it missed the point entirely ?
It is not only redundant it is rediculous. The Maine State Military Forces haven’t been under the jurisdition of the State since Joe Brennan was Governor of Maine. The United States District is in charge.
Obama is the commander.
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You can’t run the State like a 5 and 1o store downtown. If you do, we will end up on the bankrupt junk pile. I hope Lepage will open up his mind and become a leader, not a liquidation specialist. Spit out all the one liners you want, but, we are in trouble unless we can find a leader with a vision, not a narrow minded accountant with no idea’s.
I remember telling people it was stupid to vote for someone who was running Mardens. Just walk into one of the stores and look how cluttered, disorganized and trashy it looks inside. Now LePage is making the same kind of hot mess in Maine. I wish the legislature would impeach him or refuse to cooperate with him until he gets frustrated and quits. He has NO CLUE what he’s doing.
Now doesn’t this just prove how dumb LePage and his special interest friends manage. Wow
Let’s wait for the conservative chorus demanding that if Maj. Libby likes services for vets so much, he should pay form them out of his own pocket… or the vets should rely on church donations or something.
Looks to me like the Republican plan is to bankrupt Maine ASAP. Get rid of those Federal funds–and all the jobs they pay for. Throw more and more Mainers out of work. Watch them lose their homes.
They’ve already trained a bunch of Commenters on this and other local papers to lash out with rage at anyone who gets unemployment compensation, goes bankrupt, needs a homeless shelter, or MaineCare. So these newly unemployed folks will see themselves ridiculed and despised for being in need. Social service budgets will have been destroyed–maybe all of SHHD and public education as well, if LePage has his way.
Then what, when the Republicans have had their field day in Maine? Well, figure out some way to blame it on Obama. Then corporations can come in offering a nickel a day in wages, which we’ll have to gratefully accept. It’s the American (conservative) way!
Way to go Lepage! Let’s keep spending a dollar to save a dime.
Send LePage back to Canada where he dodged the Vietnam Draft…..!!!!!
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The Maine National Guard spends its time oversees fighting useless and costly wars, why should it be supported? If they were being constructive and helping to build schools and roads and bridges here in Maine that would be different. All I see is they fly around the skies in their helicopters and do nothing of value. We could cut the force in half and not miss it. It seems like a welfare program to me.
Are you kidding? You can’t be serious… are you even a US citizen? Every branch of the military is required to put their life on the life for ungrateful people like you no questions asked. Spending on our military is a welfare program to you? Really? What I call a welfare program is a lifetime pension for elected officials who serve a term or two. That, my friend, becomes a “fixed” part of the budget and with every election it grows non-stop. Now THAT is welfare. So is the lifetime top-of-the-line health benefits they get.
You say that all you see is our military flying around the skies in their helicopters and you assume they are doing nothing of value? Maybe they are doing something that you just don’t understand. The same could be said about any one working any profession by someone who doesn’t understand what’s going on. For example, you see a police officer on break and you assume he’s doing nothing and should be cut from the budget. Or you see a firefighter sitting on a curb while a fire is still raging and you assume he’s doing nothing and should be cut from the budget. The reality is you don’t know what the officer was doing before and after his 2 minute break and you don’t know why the firefighter is sitting on the curb. Just because you don’t understand the duties of the military does not mean our they are doing nothing of value and should be cut from the budget.
What bothers me most is that you are calling our Dept of Defense a welfare program. Now I’ve heard it all. Who calls our military, our Dept of Defense a welfare program? Who does that? Who would not miss the military if we cut them in half? My guess would be that the only people who would say something like that is someone on LePage’s staff or speaks without thinking or a terrorist. Either way, if you don’t appreciate our military and consider them a welfare program maybe it’s time for you to get out of our country.
What is a US citizen? Do you know? It is a “person” who lives in a District or Territory or works for the United States government. The people who live in the Union of the States of America can choose their citizenship. US citizens are slaves. Remember the 13th and 14th amendments, they are US citizens, that is not I. No thank you.
Citizenship is the legal status of membership in the United States. There are two primary sources of citizenship: birthright citizenship, in which a person is presumed to be a citizen provided that he or she is born within the territorial limits of the United States, and naturalization, a process in which an immigrant applies for citizenship and is accepted. These two pathways to citizenship are specified in the Citizenship Clause of the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment which reads:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.
Well… I guess that answers that – you said you are NOT a citizen of the United States therefore it comes as no surprise that you would want to weaken our Department of Defense. Additionally it is not your business what our military is doing or how the United States of America spends it’s money… not as long as you are NOT a citizen. You cannot vote and what you have to say about our government is irrelevant. Why don’t you worry about your own country, your own government – where ever you are a citizen.
VERY well said. Thank you
Might wanna take it easy on those Liby Bites Sarg!
Are you actually saying that defending our, yours and mine and every other citizen of not only Maine, but the rest of the United States as well, is a welfare program? If you are then I agree with you it is a welfare program, but not the type you were talking about. Those brave men and women who you have so carelessly just defined as doing nothing of value are the ones who make it possible for idiots to make statements like the ones you have. They are also the ones who allow all of the non-caring , self righteous, pompous and selfish the right to be all of the aforementioned. I am damned happy that they volunteer and are willing to put their lives on the line with little or no thanks from too many people in order to guarantee the welfare of the United States of American and all of Her citizens, even the idiotic ones.
Definitely a welfare program like so many others with United States people. I know the Army and helicopters, and they fly over my house several times a day, they are loud and loaded, for what? From what I know it is so that they can maintain their flight pay, income, they need so many hours in the air to get the money, so they fly and fly and fly. And we pay for nothing but noise. It is a welfare check for doing nothing
Remember Sarg, you said you aren’t a citizen so STFU until you become a citizen and know what you are talking about.
Your ID indicates you might have served in the military however I doubt it because you seem so ignorant of Army aviation and what they do. So I hope this helps end your ignorance:1. Training- You wouldn’t want your Military pilots to go on real missions without knowing how to fly would you?2. Do you realize the Bangor Natl. Guard has a unit that flys Medivac helicopters that help not only save our military who are in harms way but civilians in this country as well?
3. They also do little little missons like insert certain elements that do the nasty business of eliminating persons who would do you, I, and our nation harm.4. Wars , whether or not useless as you say are still being fought by our men and women in uniform and they deserve to be equiped with the best tools training and SUPPORT our nation can provide.I think you owe them an apology.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND SARGEANT?
go away
________________________________
From: Disqus
To: veritatumtuam@yahoo.com
Sent: Saturday, February 4, 2012 12:01 PM
Subject: [bdn] Re: State cuts in Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management threatening federal funds
Disqus generic email template
PWandLD wrote, in response to sergeantcuinn:
Your ID indicates you might have served in the military however I doubt it because you seem so ignorant of Army aviation and what they do. So I hope this helps end your ignorance:1. Training- You wouldn’t want your Military pilots to go on real missions without knowing how to fly would you?2. Do you realize the Bangor Natl. Guard has a unit that flys Medivac helicopters that help not only save our military who are in harms way but civilians in this country as well? 3. They also do little little missons like insert certain elements that do the nasty business of eliminating persons who would do you, I, and our nation harm.4. Wars , whether or not useless as you say are still being fought by our men and women in uniform and they deserve to be equiped with the best tools training and SUPPORT our nation can provide.I think you owe them an apology.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND SARGEANT?
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Truth hurts don’t it?
They fight for each other, and defend there own pension.
Your ID indicates you might have served in the military however I doubt it because you seem so ignorant of Army aviation and what they do. So I hope this helps end your ignorance:
1. Training- You wouldn’t want your Military pilots to go on real missions without knowing how to fly would you?
2. Do you realize the Bangor Natl. Guard has a unit that flys Medivac helicopters that help not only save our military who are in harms way but civilians in this country as well? (They also insert certain elements that do the nasty business of eliminating persons who would do you, I, and our nation harm.)
3. Wars , wether or not useless as you say are still being fought by our men and women in uniform and they deserve to be equiped with the best tools training and SUPPORT our nation can provide.
I think you owe them an apology.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND SARGEANT?
It’s time to funnel vet’s into mainstream with mainstream benefits. Vet hospital are staffed with doctor’s that could not make it in private practice. It would be a great benefit to all, if they went to regular med ctr’s thus giving them better treatment and saving billions in tax dollars. I for one, don’t understand why this has not been done. Washington DC power, I assume.
You said “I for one, don’t understand why this has not been done. Washington DC power, I assume.
I say you are completely ignorant about VA hospitals and I’m not about to try to convince you otherwise of something you sound like you’re so knowledgeable about.
How about doing a little research about disabled vets and VA hospitals.
Here’s some help to “understand why this has not been done” from the words of President Lincoln, “…Let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan…”
How about we funnel “Mainstream” into everything that is required to become a Vet.
Now go get smart before spouting off such BS Conley.
reminds me of my daughters comment that she saved 10 dollars on a pair of shoes that she then added to her collection of unused shoes.
Another example of the “penny wise pound foolish” approach of Landslide LePage’s administration.