AUGUSTA — Cuts to higher education, hospitals and services for at-risk youths are among the recommendations of a task force that was formed to fill a $25 million shortfall in the state budget.
While negotiations continue on proposed cuts in the Department of Health and Human Services, legislators addressed a different budget problem Tuesday: a $25 million gap in the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Lawmakers left the hole in the budget last year when they approved the $6.1 billion, two-year state spending plan. To close it, a 12-member task force recommends reducing payments to hospitals to save $3.2 million, cutting $2.3 million from the University of Maine System and eliminating a program that helps at-risk youths to save $2.2 million, among other things.
The most controversial proposal is an $850,000 reduction in funding for the Child Development Services Program.
Parents of disabled children told lawmakers that parents should retain the power to decide whether their children are ready for kindergarten.
The Department of Education is proposing to give that power to children’s education program teams, which include teachers, school district officials, parents and child development experts. Some children who are now held back for additional help before starting school would be required to enter public schools sooner, saving money for the state.
That issue and others will be debated by the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, which is likely to vote in the coming days on the $25 million package.
Administrative and Financial Services Commissioner Sawin Millett said the task force did its best to recommend cuts that will provide long-term savings. The task force did not consider cutting state aid to schools or money allocated to cities and towns, but is proposing cuts across most of state government.
From a $219 cut from the Maine Joint Environmental Training Coordinating Committee to a $3.2 million cut from acute-care hospitals, the group looked for savings that will help in future years, he said.
“Ninety percent are baseline reductions, which will translate into savings in the next biennial budget,” he said. “We have pushed the envelop to make savings that will go on.”
Among the proposed cuts is a combined $3 million from Maine’s community college and university systems.
Also, $260,203 would be cut from the Commission on Indigent Legal Services, a constitutionally mandated service. Executive Director John Pelletier said he cannot absorb that kind of cut. In fact, he has requested an increase in state funding of $1 million this year and $728,000 in the next fiscal year.
To save money, Pelletier said, he has cut mileage payments to attorneys who participate in the program and has taken other cost-cutting measures.
Rep. Ken Fredette, R-Newport, said the proposed cuts would hurt the program.
“I think the policies you’re implementing are going to continue to drive good attorneys away,” he said.
That prompted Rep. Margaret Rotundo, D-Lewiston, to respond.
“This is the situation we’ve put people in,” she said. “We’re squeezing people so we’re having to make these decisions.”
Susan Cover — 620-7015
scover@mainetoday.com
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