AUGUSTA – Jockeying for position in advance of next week’s release of Gov. Angus King’s budget plan, Democratic lawmakers on Friday pledged to maintain education funding at levels approved last year.

The Democratic declaration echoed a statement issued earlier this week by House Republican leaders.

King aide Kay Rand said the administration welcomed the expressions of support for general purpose aid to local schools.

King is expected to outline on Tuesday his plan for meeting supplemental spending demands from state departments while offsetting a revenue shortfall pegged at nearly $250 million.

To date, the debate over school funding levels has focused on whether revisions to last year’s legislative decisions should even be up for discussion.

Asked Friday whether she shared the view that school funding levels must be maintained as set, independent Sen. Jill Goldthwait of Bar Harbor, who is co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, said: “Probably, but I’m reserving the right to change my mind on anything until I see the actual budget.”

General purpose aid to local schools is pegged at about $1.4 billion for the current two-year budget cycle.

Lawmakers approved annual increases of 5 percent and 3 percent last year.

Projected expenditures have risen from $664 million in fiscal 2001 to $702 million for fiscal 2002 and to $718 million for fiscal 2003.

The revenue gap confronting King and the Legislature was formally estimated by the state’s Revenue Forecasting Committee in late November.

This week, in a regular monthly report, the King administration said November sales tax revenue exceeded revenue in November 2000 by $8.2 million, or 12.4 percent.

November revenue reflects taxable sales in October, and the administration report said October sales by automobile dealerships were up 43 percent – worth $4 million – compared with the same month a year earlier.

According to the administration report, Maine’s 43 percent sales increase outpaced a national increase of 28 percent.

The administration report attributed the auto sales increases to special promotions by manufacturers, while noting that Maine’s latest revenue forecast “assumes that many of these sales are coming at the expense of later months in the fiscal year.”

Overall, while total taxable sales in October were up 7 percent from October 2000, sales were up by only 1 percent for the 12-month period ending in October.