Congress’ budget cuts deny services to the country’s most vulnerable citizens.

In the very difficult and contentious federal budget debate that is now reaching its climax in Washington, Maine’s congressional delegation has been stalwart in its defense of our most important programs for families and children.

Last Thursday, in a series of complex proceedings, Maine’s senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both voted against a budget package developed by members of their own party – a difficult decision in a chamber where senators must work closely with colleagues to advance legislation. They did so because of their concerns about the environment and about vital programs to protect families, such as LIHEAP, the heating assistance program that is now drastically under-funded in the wake of record-high oil prices. Sen. Snowe put it best: “We must help our most vulnerable citizens keep warm this winter.”

On the House side, Rep. Tom Allen spoke out against Medicaid cuts, saying, “Think for a moment about the millions of children who will get less health care if the majority gets its way.”

The fact is that this year’s budget has been stacked against children and families from the very beginning. Congressional leaders took a process called “reconciliation” used in the 1990s to combine tax increases and spending cuts to balance the budget for the first time in 30 years.

This year, narrow congressional majorities are using reconciliation to make cuts in vital programs – and then use the cuts to offset new tax cuts. Not only are families and children harmed as a result, but an already large budget deficit continues to increase. This is the opposite of the sensible financial policies Americans, and Mainers, should expect from their government.

To their credit, Maine’s senators and representatives have fought this process every step of the way. But lately things have been getting worse, not better.

Earlier this summer, both houses finally agreed to cut $35 billion from domestic programs. In the House, these cuts come disproportionately from programs that serve kids, including health care, child care, child support collection, foster care and nutrition. The public might imagine these cuts programs were adequately funded, but they are not. Flat funding over almost a decade has sharply reduced the number of children served.

After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the need to rebuild the Gulf Coast, congressional majorities made even bigger cuts in aid to children and families – while leaving $70 billion in new tax cuts untouched. The total cuts now stand at $39 billion in the Senate and $54 billion in the House.

As a member of the Finance Committee, Sen. Snowe has worked tirelessly for the best possible agreement, and we thank her for her efforts. Typical of her work is a letter, written with her colleague, Democratic Sen. Herbert Kohl, condemning the House’s further cuts in child support. A rare “sense of the Senate” resolution making the same point then passed unanimously.

Meanwhile, congressional majorities continue to resist even such sensible cost-saving steps as allowing the government to negotiate for better prices in the new Medicare prescription drug benefits, as is already done for Medicaid and the Department Veterans Affairs. “I can’t for the life of me imagine why Medicare shouldn’t have the same power to negotiate,” Sen. Snowe said. It is one of many unanswered questions.

When the budget goes to a conference committee, there will be one more chance to craft a more responsible budget that protects, not harms, vulnerable citizens. If that doesn’t happen, we hope our delegation will again vote no.

As Americans and Mainers, it should disturb us deeply that Congress’ response to suffering and death from natural disasters is to take funding away from programs that provide the same kind of help across the nation. We should not try to help the children and families hurt by Katrina by hurting families and children everywhere else.

Elinor Goldberg is president and chief executive of the Maine Children’s Alliance, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group advocating for the well-being of Maine’s children, youth and families.

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