March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Consensus forecasting

One of the most significant improvements to state government approved during an otherwise undistinguished session of the Legislature — creation of the Consensus Forecasting Commission — is contained in legislation sitting on the governor’s desk.

Gov. John McKernan can find reasons to allow this law to die without his signature.

He could veto it.

But it is in the long-term interest of the people of this state, and their state government, for him to sign the bill.

Politicians can quibble over who has been most responsible for the shameful performance of state govenrment the past two years.

Democrats can blame the governor’s consistently abysmal revenue projections for their incompetence in dealing with the larger issues of budgetary and fiscal policy and their inability to make the size of government manageable and affordable.

The governor can blame the Democrats’ lock on the Legislature for the ineptness of his staff in delivering accurate revenue numbers on which all of state government can make reasoned decisions on spending and taxation.

This petty blame game and the consistently poor financial projections obstruct the process of responsible management, frustrate elected officials who make honest efforts to rise above partisan politics, and ultimately cheat the people of Maine out of responsible government.

The Consensus Forecasting Commission, originally a proposal of the state’s Special Commission on Governmental Restructuring, would make short- and long-term budget projections in an atmosphere that should be free of partisanship and political pressure.

The governor would select two commission members, who would have professional credentials in projecting revenues, economic forecasting, and fiscal issues. The speaker of the House and Senate president would choose the other two appointees. Those four members would select a fifth by majority vote.

Revenue projections should be a planning tool. In Maine they have become a political weapon that inflicts its greatest damage on the state’s taxpayers — individuals and businesses.

The manner in which projections have been perverted for political gain has hurt this state’s standing nationally. Maine now is acknowledged to be one of the most poorly managed state governments in the United States. Republicans and Democrats who are concerned about economic development want to reverse this negative image.

Adoption of the Consensus Forecasting Commission would be an act of self-improvement by state government. The governor should endorse it.


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