Boston protest

Cheers to the three busloads of people from Maine who went to Boston this week to picket in front of the federal building that is home to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Their protest about the loss of HUD grants to help Maine’s homeless was an important reminder that the state needs to stick together if it is to get anything done.

And though it was not the first time a state commissioner has protested a budget cut, it must have been a first to have Human Services Commissioner Kevin Concannon and Mental Health Commissioner Melodie Peet on the same side of a picket with the state’s homeless and their advocates. That the protest needed to take place in downtown Boston merely adds to the sense of how distant Maine is in the federal scheme of things.

The trip to Boston was necessary because Maine lost $4.36 million in HUD grants used to help subsidize transitional and permanent housing for people receiving treatment for mental illness or substance abuse. Both applications from Maine fell just short of the qualifying mark, and their loss came as an unpleasant surprise to state officials, who were not warned by HUD that the money would not be coming this year.

HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo has been conciliatory on this issue, and there is hope that a thorough review of the applications will find the needed one or two points to bump Maine scores into the qualifying level. Sen. Susan Collins’ office reports that delegation staff members are scheduled to meet with HUD officials next week to try to settle the question.

Whatever the outcome of the homeless money, the Mainers who rode the buses to Boston to protest deserve thanks for keeping the issue public and reminding federal officials that the state deserves full and fair consideration. At least.