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Log inState to cut $80M in spending
State to cut $80M in spending
by Outspoken on Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:48 am
State to cut $80M in spending
BY SUSAN M. COVER
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
AUGUSTA -- Gov. John Baldacci signed an executive order Wednesday to cut spending by nearly $80 million to help close a shortfall in the $3 billion budget.
Of the $80 million, the deepest cuts are to the Department of Health and Human Services, which will lose $31 million, and the Department of Education, which will lose $28 million. The $80 million cut is a 2.6 percent reduction in the annual state budget.
"We're in a very difficult national recession," Baldacci said, at a news conference in the Statehouse Cabinet Room. "All states are going through this. Maine is not immune."
Four workers at DHHS will lose their jobs as part of the cuts. Because the governor's powers are limited in a curtailment, he could only eliminate jobs directly affected by cuts to programs, said Ryan Low, commissioner of the state Department of Administrative and Financial Services.
Many state jobs will be left vacant to save money, Baldacci said. DHHS Commissioner Brenda Harvey said although her department reduced spending, it avoided major cuts to services for needy populations. She said $25 million of the $31 million in cuts were not related to services or programs. The state did reduce funding for home-care services for the elderly, which will increase the time people are on a waiting list for help, she said.
"We're not taking people off services," she said.
Betsy Sweet, a lobbyist who works on behalf of several social service agencies, praised the department for not cutting services.
"The department did a yeoman's job to mitigate the impact on individuals who need help in this terrible year," she said. "We somehow have to deal with the fact that people need services more when the economy is bad."
On the education side, Baldacci cut $27 million in aid to local schools and cut $1 million from other parts of the state Department of Education budgets.
He also cut more than $8 million from the University of Maine System and $3 million from the community college system.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5625379.html
AP photos by Pat Wellenbach
BY SUSAN M. COVER
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
AUGUSTA -- Gov. John Baldacci signed an executive order Wednesday to cut spending by nearly $80 million to help close a shortfall in the $3 billion budget.
Of the $80 million, the deepest cuts are to the Department of Health and Human Services, which will lose $31 million, and the Department of Education, which will lose $28 million. The $80 million cut is a 2.6 percent reduction in the annual state budget.
"We're in a very difficult national recession," Baldacci said, at a news conference in the Statehouse Cabinet Room. "All states are going through this. Maine is not immune."
Four workers at DHHS will lose their jobs as part of the cuts. Because the governor's powers are limited in a curtailment, he could only eliminate jobs directly affected by cuts to programs, said Ryan Low, commissioner of the state Department of Administrative and Financial Services.
Many state jobs will be left vacant to save money, Baldacci said. DHHS Commissioner Brenda Harvey said although her department reduced spending, it avoided major cuts to services for needy populations. She said $25 million of the $31 million in cuts were not related to services or programs. The state did reduce funding for home-care services for the elderly, which will increase the time people are on a waiting list for help, she said.
"We're not taking people off services," she said.
Betsy Sweet, a lobbyist who works on behalf of several social service agencies, praised the department for not cutting services.
"The department did a yeoman's job to mitigate the impact on individuals who need help in this terrible year," she said. "We somehow have to deal with the fact that people need services more when the economy is bad."
On the education side, Baldacci cut $27 million in aid to local schools and cut $1 million from other parts of the state Department of Education budgets.
He also cut more than $8 million from the University of Maine System and $3 million from the community college system.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5625379.html
AP photos by Pat Wellenbach
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
