Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has taken a pivotal role this week in finding middle ground on a politically potent economic stimulus package.

“This is a test of whether we can put aside partisan differences and work together, and it’s also a test of whether the new administration can work effectively with Congress,” Collins said in an interview Friday. “There have been mistakes made on both sides and my hope is that we can come together and solve problems for the American people. I think it’s really critical.”

Collins has led a high-profile group of about 20 moderate senators, along with Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, in an attempt to create a package that would garner enough votes to pass the U.S. Senate.

The group met three times Thursday, twice for more than four hours, and continued to work Friday. They agreed to more than $100 billion in spending cuts to a package that had swelled to more than $900 billion on the Senate floor.

And while some groups, namely education, hospital and environmental organizations, lobbied against the spending reductions, Collins defended the work she’s done.

“For us to have identified excessive spending of $100 billion is a remarkable achievement in this environment, and we do have bipartisan support for eliminating that spending,” she said.

Chris Galgay, president of the Maine Education Association, said he was troubled by the prospect of receiving less money than he would have from the House’s stimulus proposal, but admitted the pared-down package would still be an improvement.

“Yes, it will help because the state isn’t going to give us any more money,” he said Friday during a conference call. “I guess you could use the argument that it’s better than nothing.”

Collins said there was a lot of misinformation being spread by lobbying groups.

“Partially, that’s because all of these special-interest groups are nervous about what’s going to be in and what’s out,” she said. “But we’re trying to be rigorous and honest about what belongs in the bill and what doesn’t. It’s still going to provide millions of dollars for our state.”

Also cut from the bill were proposals to build a new headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security and $870 million for pandemic flu preparedness.

“I want to emphasize that much of this spending is for programs I support, but they don’t belong in an economic stimulus package,” said Collins, who is the top Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “They should have to go through the scrutiny of the regular appropriations process.”