AUGUSTA – The Legislature’s Appropriations Committee hopes to save millions by eliminating duplication and redundancies in state government.

Rebecca Wyke, commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, presented a list of 36 possible cuts totaling $11 million for this biennium and $10 million in fiscal years 2010 and 2011 to the committee Thursday. These included cuts from her department, conservation, the Department of Health and Human Services, the state Treasury and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Gov. John Baldacci announced earlier this summer that he was looking for public input to streamline state government. It resulted in 57 pages of comments and counting.

Of those, “these are the ones we’re most ready to put forward at this time,” Wyke said during the meeting.

Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston and chairwoman of the committee, said the committee’s goal is to achieve $10.1 million in cuts, but they won’t stop at that if they find more.

After Wyke’s presentation, Rotundo said the committee came up with criteria to review proposed cuts. These included sustainability, structural changes, streamlining government and specificity. The committee is still accepting comments from the public, but they must be in by Sept. 14 to be considered.

Committee staff will go over all the suggestions in the coming weeks and filter out those that meet the criteria, Rotundo said. The committee is meeting twice a month for the next four months to review the information.

“It’s not a process that happens overnight,” Rotundo said. “We need to make sure we understand the implications to state government, and take the time to figure out what will be in the package.”

She added, “We will be very thoughtful, but we will be very aggressive.”

Sen. John Nutting, D-Leeds, sponsored the original bill to make cuts in state government, which was folded into the budget and initiated this process. He said the intent of the original bill was to cut administrative positions. The proposal only looks at the lowest level. Examples would be departmental communications directors, he said.

“I’m extremely disappointed with what the chief executive came up with,” Nutting said before Thursday’s meeting. “He’s telling everyone involved in education in Maine (while they’re consolidating) that he needs every single one of his supervisors.”

Rotundo, however, said that the Office of Fiscal and Program Review will be looking at the governor’s appointments made in the last 10 years and determine if they are still necessary.

Wyke’s proposal involved cutting 10 state jobs: seven in the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, most low-level positions such as custodial jobs.

“We can’t retain people in these jobs because the pay is just too low,” Wyke said.

Cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services included proposals to place more children in state custody with families and implement competitive bidding for therapeutic foster care, together netting more than $3 million a year.