Moving beyond ‘wishful budgeting’

It’s time for legislators in both parties to admit that Maine’s state budget is perilously overextended, and to take responsible steps to assure a healthy reserve account that cannot be easily raided. Two years ago the budget was “balanced” by selling off future revenues from the sale of liquor and yet numerous “supplemental budgets” were still required to continue to keep the budget in balance.

This year the governor has proposed dealing with part of the budget deficit by selling off the future revenues from the lottery . If this gimmick is utilized, where will the next Legislature find the money to fill this hole two years from now, particularly given the fact that the state is obligated to put $100 million into achieving the state’s share of 55 percent of school funding? It is hard to imagine how we would do this even if the economy continues to grow, and what would we do if we had a real problem, such as losing a major employer like Bath Iron Works or MBNA?

Who’s to blame for this? The simple answer is all of us. We the people contributed to the problem when we passed term limits creating a legislature less concerned about future problems when they’ll be gone. We can blame Independent Gov. Angus King for being so concerned with his “legacy” of BETR and laptops for his part in allowing the our structural debt grow beyond healthy limits. We can blame Republicans in the Legislature for not coming forward with their own budget proposals, and we can blame the current governor and the previous Democratic Legislature for engaging in what can only be accurately described as “wishful budgeting.”

Wishful budgeting is to advance a budget proposal that requires a wing and a prayer to succeed. The intentions are sincere and highly honorable, but irresponsibly risky. It is illustrated by the story of the man who jumps off the fifty story building and as he goes by each floor he is heard to say “So far, so good!” A few years ago the state reduced the sales tax from 6 cents to 5 cents, but made no cuts in programs to match the cut in revenue, in fact new programs were added: BETR to help big businesses, and health insurance coverage for the working poor.

Why haven’t Maine’s Republican legislators shown the way by offering their own budget proposals? Unfortunately, they have had their own wishful agenda. Democrats are always tempted to offer new programs without owning up on how to pay for them, Republicans want to promise big tax cuts without owning up to the resulting cuts in programs.

In the absence of their own spending proposals, the Republicans have at least called for structural change. They want a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds vote in the legislature before increasing spending over a certain cap or raising taxes. We Democrats respond that a democracy is built around majority rule and that the majority of our people ought to be able to increase or reduce the size of government as suits their needs at any given time. So how do we assure budgets that are really balanced, that both parties will be involved and still leave control to the majority of the electorate?

I propose the Real Balanced Budget Amendment to our Maine Constitution. It would require that any budget passed by a simple majority of legislators must account for revenues 5 percent above anticipated spending, unless and until the state has that amount safely set aside in a special reserve account. If there is a real emergency that makes that impossible, then a two-thirds vote will be required. Once the money is built up in the special reserve account it could only be spent by a two thirds legislative vote, or if the majority party thinks the minority is frustrating the will of the people, the majority of the legislators can put the issue directly to the voters.

With this amendment, we will continue to have majority rule, but with a very real restraint on the majority party in the legislature. It’s a shoe which will pinch the feet of Democrats who want to do more for people who need services than the state is able to pay for, and it will pinch the feet of Republicans who want to cut taxes without really cutting services to reflect those cuts. It’s a shoe which will force Maine voters to decide just how much government we need and are willing to pay for.

Barbara Merrill, D-Appleton, is a first-term legislator. She represents House District 44 which includes Appleton, Hope, Lincolnville, Liberty, Searsmont, Morrill and Islesboro.