AUGUSTA (AP) – Hundreds of critics of budget reductions being proposed by Gov. John Baldacci filled the State House on Wednesday, voicing opposition to human services cutbacks in testimony that occasionally created hushes and drew tears.

Amid warnings of anti-social effects if funding for programs addressing mental illness, domestic violence and care for the disabled and elderly is lowered, lawmakers were already looking ahead toward what happens next with the governor’s $190 million budget-balancing package.

For sticker-wearing, sign-carrying demonstrators organized by the Maine Can Do Better coalition, many of whom were in wheelchairs, the answer was no. “Without a vision, the people perish,” the Rev. Jill Saxby of the Maine Council of Churches, quoting Proverbs, told panelists on the Appropriations and Health and Human Services committees.

Up for committee review was Baldacci’s new proposal to cut $27.5 million from the human services budget.

The governor already had put forth $65.4 million in human services cuts in January before a budget shortfall initially pegged at $95 million doubled to $190 million.

Hurting families

The coalition warned that proposed reductions would reduce reimbursement to some foster and adoptive families while also curbing operations at family planning centers and cutting support for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Included would be an elimination of pharmacy benefits for poor adults without children, a reduction in hospital payments corresponding to a cap on the number of poor childless adults that can receive Medicaid and the elimination of funding for personal care services for people with physical disabilities who are not eligible for MaineCare, according to Baldacci administration officials and a legislative analysis.

Chris Copeland, executive director of Tri-County Mental Health Services in Auburn, said mental health agencies want a strong state economy as much as anyone, but told lawmakers to take a “thoughtful” approach when making cuts.

“We believe Maine can get through this budget without dismantaling our behavioral health infrastructure,” said Copeland, who is also the president of the Maine Association of Mental Health Services.

The cuts should prioritize remaining general fund dollars on people currently receiving services, he said.

In a statement heading into the hearing, Christopher St. John, the executive director of the Maine Center for Economic Policy, said “budget cuts like those currently proposed have the exact opposite effect of what’s intended. They will tend to make this economic downturn last longer, cause harm to thousands of Maine people, and damage the fabric of our communities.”

In short, these budget cuts would be shortsighted and likely to create larger fiscal problems in future budgets.”

Meanwhile, the Maine Heritage Policy Center released a report proposing $217 million in spending cuts available for budget-balancing. Nearly half – $96.6 million – could be realized by eliminating vacant state positions, a hiring freeze and attrition, the report said.

“Maine is not a wealthy state, yet our enrollment parameters are far above the national averages on many programs – which creates unsustainable spending levels which Maine taxpayers cannot afford,” Tarren Bragdon, the chief executive officer of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, said in a statement.

For a time Wednesday, demonstrators at the State House packed into the Appropriations Committee hearing room, filled an annex one floor below and pressed into the State House Hall of Flags with more participants squeezed out into corridors and onto stairways.

The responses to the Baldacci proposals “are going to move us to the point where we’re not going to accept some of the cuts” that might previously have been agreed to, said Democratic Sen. Joseph Brannigan of Portland, a co-chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee.

Republican Sen. Richard Nass of Acton suggested the governor’s proposal itself looked like a “cutting the football team” feint that would clear the way for a substitute plan relying on increased taxes.

“Better ideas” that should be on the table, Nass said, include applying some of a pension fund surplus toward covering the budget gap.

AP-ES-03-12-08 1550EDT

Copy the Story Link