AUGUSTA — A legislative panel today objected to cutting $125,000 from a scholarship fund that covers half of medical school tuition for eligible Maine students.

Gov. Paul LePage’s supplemental budget — which is designed to balance state spending through June 30 — had proposed cutting the amount from the Doctors for Maine’s Future scholarship fund.

While the cut wouldn’t have taken effect immediately, the Legislature’s Education Committee on Thursday said it preferred to find comparable cuts elsewhere in the budget.

“I do wholeheartedly believe in this program,” said Sen. Brian Langley, R-Ellsworth, the committee’s Senate chairman. “Pulling the rug out from this program sends a bad message, that you can’t trust anything that gets started.”

The Education Committee’s decision came three days after a group of medical students from across Maine objected to the cut during testimony before the Legislature’s Appropriations and Education panels.

Committee members will revisit the scholarship on Monday. They’re scheduled to share their budget recommendations with the Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.


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