State budget stronger than its critics’ arguments

I found former state Sen. Richard Bennett’s March 23 op-ed in the Bangor Daily News to be very amusing. He must be yearning for the days when he was Senate president in Augusta – the days when government spending, at the state level, was out of control and programs were growing at a rate impossible to sustain.

While Bennett points out that government spending increased by 74 percent over the past decade, he fails to mention that the current state budget represents the smallest increase in spending in 30 years. For Bennett, it’s easy to forget that the fiscal recklessness of his tenure put the state in the fiscal death spiral faced in Augusta today.

To understand the budget debate more fully, we should know the facts behind the words we hear from Augusta as well as those who left but still pontificate:

. Investments – The budget passed last week makes significant increases in the state’s commitment to education as well as property tax relief.

. $1.7 billion in General Purpose Aid to Education. At 19 percent, the largest increase in 25 years that primarily goes to property tax relief.

. $500 million to higher education.

. More than $24 million in economic development funding.

. A total of more than $350 million in tax relief of various forms.

Anyone will tell you that the better educated our work force is the better our chances will be in attracting business to Maine with good-paying jobs with good benefits. And the people of Maine were clearly heard by this Legislature and this governor on the issue of tax reform. Apparently Bennett’s definition of “investment” only applies to Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers getting tax breaks.

. Bonds – Bennett doesn’t mention that when he was a legislator and John McKernan was governor the budget was balanced on the backs of state employees. Millions of dollars were stolen from the retirement accounts of state employees and furlough days were implemented that affected lives across this state. It was the Democrats in the legislature who later bailed the state out, or in Bennett’s words, you would issue

a revenue bond to pay off the unfunded liability left by the past administration’s sleight of hand.

. Keeping our promises – With this definition, Bennett is in a most difficult predicament. The recently passed budget gives the people of Maine $350 million in tax relief and contains savings of $425 million by streamlining state government. Bennett conveniently forgot that Gov. Baldacci and the Democratic majority in the Legislature did exactly what the said they would over the objections of the Republicans.

To understand Bennett’s column more clearly it will be helpful for me to define some other commonly used phrases:

. Crisis – Bennett applies “crisis” to any of the following: public schools, state government, fishing, Medicaid, northern Maine, small business, rural Maine, the court system, hunting, southern Maine, big business. A list of things not in crisis will be available from Bennett as soon as a Republican is in the Blaine House.

. Maine Heritage Policy Center – Full employment program for GOP campaigners and former legislators. The name “Republican Idea Machine” was rejected because it didn’t sound vague or bureaucratic enough to pass as a benevolent nonpartisan policy group.

For Bennett the issue doesn’t seem to be streamlining government or cutting state spending while still providing services for the least among us. The budget passed last week, on party lines, by the Democratic majority in the Legislature and signed by the governor, accomplishes this. Unfortunately, you need an Insider’s Guide to Politics to understand where former Sen. Bennett is coming from.

Dan Tremble is a Bangor city councilor.