AUGUSTA BRAIN DRAIN

Despite all the hand-wringing over government machinations in Augusta, Maine’s policy-makers and bureaucrats are doing a pretty good job of managing the state’s money, personnel and infrastructure, according to a recently released report on state government.

Overall, Maine was given a B-minus, the national average, by the Governance Performance Project. However, the project noted many times that Maine’s strengths were undermined by an inexperienced and overworked state Legislature. The report should immediately encourage lawmakers to take more interest in crafting and managing the state’s budget and other affairs. In the longer term, it should cause lawmakers to re-evaluate term limits.

As an example of Maine’s shortcoming, the report noted that the governor dutifully submits a budget that contains performance measures for every one of the state’s thousands of programs. The measures, such as the percentage of clients whose needs are met, the percentage of taxes collected or the number of cases handled each year, are meant to measure the effectiveness of each program.

However, these measures, required by a state law passed by the Legislature, are stripped out of the budget bill before it is given to lawmakers because the Legislature’s computer system can’t handle the data. Not all lawmakers then seek out the information in other forms.

“Performance budgeting measures could be an enormous help in deciding budget cuts, but legislators who haven’t used them before aren’t likely to start when faced with huge upcoming shortfalls,” the researchers wrote, noting that the legislators are “underexperienced and overworked.”

The report goes on to fault the state’s eight-year term limits for not allowing lawmakers enough time to gain in-depth understanding of specific subject areas. Marge Kilkelly, who served 16 years in the Maine Legislature and is now on the staff of the Council of State Governments, put it succinctly. “Term limits create a trainee board of directors for a multi-billion-dollar corporation.”

Despite its inexperience that board is being given better information by the governor and his staff. The project gave Maine high marks for improving its financial projections and for working to replenish reserve funds. The report noted that there is room for improvement in projecting expenditures, especially in the Medicaid realm where government officials were faulted for being overly optimistic about potential savings and forthcoming federal funds.

Faced with these challenges, decisions should be made by informed and experienced lawmakers. Constant turnover in the Legislature and its leadership does not allow this to happen. Extending or abolishing term limits could help Maine avert serious problems in coming years.