When I was first elected in 2002 to represent the residents of Lewiston in the Maine Legislature, state government was already getting smaller. Year after year, my colleagues and I on the Appropriations Committee have undertaken the difficult task of making state government more lean and efficient.

I am now serving my sixth year on the Appropriations Committee and I am proud that during that time the committee has worked in a bipartisan fashion to create unanimous budgets almost every year.

My Republican colleagues have worked just as hard as my Democratic colleagues to reduce spending in a manner that will not actually cost the state more in the long run.

But none of us has found some magic “fat” or “waste” in the state budget to be painlessly cut. To suggest that such state government waste exists is to suggest that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats on the committee are committed to an effectively run state government. This is simply not the case.

Many of the ongoing cuts have been to programs that provide services to children, people with disabilities and the elderly. Of the policy changes made in recent years, many have helped to make these programs more cost-effective and fiscally sustainable.

Legislators have worked in a bipartisan fashion with providers of services, personal support professionals, consumers and their families to assure that these policy changes do not endanger the recipients of services.

Another vital aspect of these budget considerations must always be whether these cuts make it impossible for these small and mid-size businesses to keep providing these services to consumers and the many jobs in the community these businesses support.

The cuts that were made in previous years were by no means painless to the workers, families and consumers affected. While I believe the legislature supported important cost-saving measures last session and in previous years, many state programs have absolutely been cut to the bone.

In some cases the current cuts will negatively affect the program changes made in recent years that were meant to actually lower future costs to taxpayers.

For instance, cuts to mental health services usually mean that more funding is needed in public safety and jails. This leaves the Legislature with very difficult choices in balancing the current budget.

As one of the two largest portions of the state budget, some special interests often target the Department of Health and Human Services as the department from which massive cuts should be made.

Having served two years on the Health and Human Services Committee, I can tell you that much has been cut already. The fact is that DHHS expenditures are slated to be $31.7 million less in FY 2011 than in FY 2002.

While the misperception that Maine has a “Cadillac” plan for MaineCare recipients is repeated over and over again, the truth is that Maine’s Medicaid program is actually ranked 44th lowest in the nation in terms of payments per enrollee at $6,187. While MaineCare’s enrollment has increased by 120,000 in recent years, when more and more Mainers have found themselves in need, DHHS workers must administer this program and many others with 300 fewer employees.

In fact, in the past seven years the Maine Legislature has eliminated more than 1,000 state government positions, almost 9 percent of the state work force. Further, state employees have been faced with 10 unpaid furlough days a year, lost pay raises and increases in the amount they must pay for their health insurance. These provisions in the current budget will cut spending by nearly $33.8 million.

I wish the reality wasn’t so far from the absurd suggestion of a bloated state government. My colleagues and I would love to find the “fat” that can be used to fund infrastructure improvements, keep property taxes low by better funding schools and General Assistance, and to keep the many thousands of private workers in hospitals and among health care providers in the jobs that are paid for with state revenues.

The truth is that in the past 12 months, state revenues have fallen by $1.15 billion. Last session, we cut $556 million from the budget, making it the first time since 1974 that a budget was smaller than the prior year’s. Maine, as a community, must work together to make the best choices possible under the circumstances.

State Sen. Margaret Craven lives in Lewiston.