AUGUSTA – If people in state government want to cut some fat, they don’t need to look beyond the State House walls, said one legislator.

Sen. John Nutting, D-Leeds, presented a bill before the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee on Wednesday seeking to examine how Maine can cut its governmental operations costs.

Nutting estimates the state could save $30 million annually by setting up a panel to look at unnecessary costs and duplications between departments.

Nutting cited a Brookings Institution survey that found that 91 percent of Maine’s population believes state administrative costs should be lowered.

Nutting’s bill calls for an 11-member commission with three senators, five representatives, one person from an organization representing low-income Mainers, two who represent business, one representing municipal government and one person with financial expertise.

The bill doesn’t say how the state would finance the panel’s work.

Nutting said he would like to find outside funding, so taxpayers wouldn’t foot the bill, though other legislators sounded skeptical.

Some committee members wondered why a separate commission was needed to determine how to achieve saving.

Representatives from the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability and the Government Oversight Committee didn’t take a position on the bill but wondered how much of a burden it could place on them.

Timothy Belcher, executive director of the Maine State Employees Association, opposed it, fearing it would become a “witch hunt.”

Rep. Christopher Barstow, D-Gorham, chairman of the State and Local Government Committee, said after the hearing that the panel is keeping an open mind toward the bill.

First, though, he said he wants to find out how and if the state could give OPEGA the responsibilities.

“Certainly we’re doing everything we can to find fiscal efficiencies…,” he said. “There are a lot of questions to be answered.”