Money generated from the sale of the plates was moved to the General Fund.
AUGUSTA – Diversion of loon plate revenues has some people crying foul.
In an attempt to narrow budget shortfalls, the governor and Legislature agreed a year ago to divert a portion of the money raised by the sales of plates that was intended to benefit conservation.
People buying loon plates pay a $15 annual renewal fee, with $5.60 going to Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and $8.40 to the Bureau of Parks and Lands. Some of the money supports the Endangered and Non-Game Wildlife Fund.
Last March, state leaders decided to divert $61,072 of the revenue to help cover a $1.2 billion shortfall.
That’s prompted a protest in some quarters, but, “There is nothing in the language of the fund that says it can’t be used by other sources,” said Marc Michaud, a Fisheries and Wildlife spokesman.
Michaud said in 2002, that income totaled $446,342.
“The $61,000 amounts to very little when you consider the whole,” he added.
Rep. Scott Cowger, D-Hallowell, a member of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, was surprised by the diversion.
“Many funds in the state government are dedicated revenue streams and when times are tough, we do look to them, but it did not occur to me that the loon plate fund was one of them,” Cowger said.
Another lawmaker called the diversion wrong.
“When someone purchases a loon plate, that person does so with the understanding that the extra money spent on the loon plate would be used for the conservation of non-game species in Maine,” said Rep. Matthew Dunlap, D-Old Town. “It is a violation of that person’s trust” to redirect the money.
Of the $61,072, more than $30,000 has already gone to the General Fund. The rest will be diverted in July unless the Legislature orders a change.
Sen. Bruce Bryant, D-Dixfield, and Dunlap, who co-chair of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee, urged Cowger’s committee to keep loon plate revenue from being shifted to the General Fund.
“Our committee is adamantly opposed to using loon plate revenues for anything other than its stated purpose,” the two said in a memo.
Besides betraying a public trust, Jennifer Burns, an attorney and lobbyist for Maine Audubon Society, said the diversion also could cause a loss of three times as much in federal matching dollars.
“It’s important that they put the money back before the public reacts collectively and stops buying the plates,” Burns said.
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