Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

State finances down so long it looks like up

Now The

— Here's where we are in September 2009: State revenues for August came in $3.3 million below projection, and it's good news because it could have been much worse.

Will this ever end? This is the third September in a row in which the state has been faced with plummeting revenues. Because, unlike the federal budget, Maine is prohibited from running a deficit, this budget -- barely 90 days old -- will have to be rewritten on the fly.

The Legislature's Appropriations Committee has been meeting all summer, working with some very large numbers. The budget came with a $30 million hole in savings to be designated later. Add that to $24 million in shortfalls for May and June, which were pushed from the last budget into this one and about a $14 million shortfall for July and August, the state budget is already clearly out of whack.

LEGISLATIVE SESSION

Changes will probably wait until early next year, when Gov. Baldacci can deliver a supplemental budget proposal, although he could call the Legislature back into session earlier if the situation takes a turn for the worse. Either way lawmakers will face a daunting challenge.

It's popular to say that the easy cuts have already been made, but the truth is that there never were any easy cuts. From the governor's first round of curtailments in 2007, to the cuts to social services the next year that had real impact on the lives of families caring for people with disabilities and foster children.

Later cuts affected schools and municipal revenue sharing, dipping into the core services citizens depend on.

And there are few options left. The rainy day fund has been depleted, furlough days are already deployed and gimmicks like the May and June shortfall shift have already been taken advantage of. Across the board reductions have also been applied.

Whenever they come back, legislators will be faced with fundamental questions about the kind of state government Maine needs. It won't be enough to stick to what's worked in the past. The times call for a different structure.

THE WORK AHEAD

Conservatives who want to cut spending should have to identify exactly what programs the state can live without and be ready to face down the political pressure from the people who will be affected.

Liberals and progressives who want to save programs will have to be ready to identify where the savings or new revenue can come from. The onus will be on the Legislature to be open to the kind of fundemental change that will cut government and make what's left more efficient, so scarce money is not wasted. It will also be on Maine people to get used to a state government that looks different than what they have had in the past.

Previous efforts have not been well-received, and Maine citizens are as much if not more to blame than their leaders. An effort to cut wasteful spending by reducing the number of school districts to a manageable size has been under constant attack. Responding to constituent concerns, lawmakers fought to water-down the governor's plan and some local school districts have fought against consolidation.

This fall, a referendum will appear on the ballot to repeal the school district consolidation law, maintaining the redundant layers of management in the name of local control.

FIGHTING CONSOLIDATION

Another effort to consolidate state natural resource departments faced crippling opposition. A proposal to merge state prisons and county jails was rescued with a compromise, but continues to be a source of contention with county governments.

State residents will have to account for the grim math problem lawmakers face. If these, relatively painless reorganizations cannot go forward, reductions of programs that deeply affect Mainer's lives will have to go deeper.

These discussions will have to take place during what is shaping up to be a wide-open race for the Blaine House, with strong and deep fields seeking both major party nominations and independent and Green candidates expected to join them on the ballot in November.

We will be looking for the candidate who can best articulate how to change the size and scope of state government to adequately meet our needs without constantly scrambling for quick fixes in response to what has become a permanent budget crisis.

Current office-holders are in an unenviable position, but this is also a time of great opportunity for change. By now the whole state should have gotten the message -- times are so hard that a $3.3 million shortfall looks like good news.