It’s harder to slip items into the state budget than the federal ledger. Harder, but not impossible. Here’s a small one that might be appropriate in a couple of months but should make legislators uncomfortable now.

The Department of Conservation had been leasing to the University of Maine at Fort Kent a facility called the Page Camp along the Allagash Waterway. The university used and renovated it as a base for students in an environmental studies program. The camp burned down late last year and now the university wants $100,000 to replace it. Only it is not a replacement, since the camp would not have the same owner and would not be on the same site.

How did the debate go on this spending item? Not well, apparently. The proposal arrived, without public comment, at 2 a.m. before the Appropriations Committee late last week and was approved with few committee members fully understanding the issue. But if they were confused, imagine how members of an advisory panel on managing the waterway feel. They have been working for more than a year to put together recommendations on development and access for three zones — 500 feet, one-quarter mile and 1 mile from the river — and plan to issue a report in May. Now they’re finding that the Legislature doesn’t view their work as necessary; it may pass legislation regardless of what the report says.

While a new camp might be a good thing for the students at UMFK and the siting by the Department of Conservation for a new camp could be right on target, the process of getting the money for the structure has been a disappointment. It sounds like old-style State House politics and is further burdened by the fact that Camp Page’s insurance, worth only $7,800, didn’t keep up with the renovated facility.

Compared with other budget items, this one is small. The state isn’t going to go broke if the money is spent. But it is also not an emergency, which was supposed to be what this legislative session was for. In a few weeks, lawmakers will have a much better idea of what sort of development the committee considers appropriate and detailed information about how it would like to see the waterway managed.

Then legislators could make an informed, public decision about this proposal, rather than just letting it drift quietly through the budget process.