AUGUSTA – A legislative committee issued its recommendations Thursday on Gov. Paul LePage’s plan to balance the state budget by reducing funding for health and human services.

The only consensus, however, was that lawmakers are still a long way from any agreements or final decisions on the proposal to close a $221 million shortfall over the next 18 months.

The Health and Human Services Committee split along party lines on a long list of proposed cuts, with seven or eight Republicans supporting the cuts and five Democrats opposing them.

The recommendations were seen as little help to the Appropriations Committee, which hopes to make recommendations to the Legislature before the end of this month.

“I’m a little bit discouraged,” said Kenneth Fredette, R-Newport, a member of the Appropriations Committee. He especially criticized Democrats for opposing the cuts and not offering alternatives.

“If we don’t want to cut these programs, how are we going to pay for them?” Fredette said. “I’m very frustrated.”

Democrats submitted a minority report saying many of the proposed cuts would lead to more expensive emergency room health care and other unintended consequences.

A majority of the Health and Human Services Committee voted in favor of cutting several health programs that are paid for with tobacco settlement funds, including dental services and discounted prescription drugs for the elderly. The money would be used instead to help close a $121 million shortfall in the budget year that ends June 30.

Only one proposed cut did not win majority support from the committee. Eight Democrats and Republicans voted against cutting tobacco settlement funding for the Head Start program, while five Republicans voted in favor.

Rep. Meredith Strang Burgess, R-Cumberland, split with fellow Republicans on that proposal and a few others that she could not support, she said. “None of these votes were taken easily by anybody.”

The Appropriations Committee will continue its review of the budget today. It is running short on time. Gov. LePage has said the Legislature must act on his proposed cuts by the end of this month to keep the shortfall from growing.

“We’ve really got to start making these hard decisions sooner rather than later,” said Sen. Roger Katz, R-Augusta, an Appropriations Committee member. “We don’t have a choice.”

MaineToday Media State House Writer John Richardson can be contacted at 620-7016 or at:

jrichardson@mainetoday.com