Tax reform panel awaits word on school funding Amending constitution discussed

AUGUSTA – School funding preoccupied a special legislative panel Monday as the lawmakers sought to wrap up in at least tentative fashion their work on Gov. John Baldacci’s property tax relief legislation.

New action was put off, however, as the Joint Select Committee on Property Tax Reform awaited new data from state education officials.

Agreed on the desirability of government spending caps, committee members took another look at mechanisms through which curbs on spending could be overridden by local officials. Panelists also held new discussions on how the state constitution might be amended as part of an overall tax relief package.

After two marathon sessions during the first part of the weekend, committee members broke for most of Sunday before reconvening in work session Monday afternoon. Another night of debate and negotiation again offered some hope that a tentative committee recommendation could be sent off for drafting in time to allow for a final review before week’s end.

Leaders of the Maine Senate and House of Representatives have set Jan. 20 as a target date or deadline for action by the full Legislature.

The panel’s deliberations continued as lawmakers labored to acquaint themselves with the details of a $5.7 million state budget package that Baldacci unveiled on Friday. In that proposal the governor has called for boosting state aid to local schools by $250 million as the first part of a two-part effort to raise the state’s share of local schools costs to 55 percent.

School funding has come to be regarded as a crucial element in providing tax relief for property taxpayers. It is also a major component of state spending.

According to a Baldacci administration analysis, 47.5 percent of total General Fund appropriations being proposed – $2.7 billion – would go toward education, while 31.9 percent – $1.8 billion – would support the Department of Health and Human Services.

About $1.2 billion – 20.6 percent of total General Fund appropriations – would go for the remainder of state government, the administration said.

The select committee has been lining up in favor of bolstering programs that offer financial relief to taxpayers.

Late-night gatherings in a committee room packed with lobbyists already have created an atmosphere more typical of the final days, rather than the opening days, of a legislative session.