PROSPERITY WORK

The Legislature would have a fine year if it balanced the budget honestly and came to an effective conclusion on school district consolidation. But it has set out a much more ambitious schedule that in the next several weeks will focus on a panel called the Prosperity Committee. Recently, the Legislature’s oversight agency gave that panel more reason than ever to get moving.

The optimistically named Prosperity Committee is the result of the work by GrowSmart Maine and the Brookings Institution. Last year, those organizations produced a strategy for sustainable prosperity that included cutting government expenses and investing the money in both tax reductions and effective programs to help Maine thrive. Supporters wanted the many recommendations in the Brookings report to be considered as a package; as a result, standing legislative committees would send related bills to this special committee.

Beth Ashcroft, the director of the Maine Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, told legislators she agrees with the Brookings report that money likely could be saved in state government and that “past economic development efforts may not have had the most effective impact on the state’s economy.” She urged further refining of some of Brookings’ numbers, which is fine – Brookings from the start insisted its work was a starting place not a finish line.

Most important, Ms. Ashcroft points the committee toward re-examining $600 million worth of economic development programs the state does a poor job of monitoring, according to a study by her office late last year. It found that a quarter of the programs had no clearly stated public purpose, a quarter lacked specific and measurable goals and objectives, and a third did not regularly report their performance. If the state is looking to apply the Brookings line “cut to invest,” it could do worse than start there.

While some programs, such as Maine’s research and development and its technology startup investments, have been tested and found successful, many others require re-examination. The GrowSmart plan pushes the Legislature to make uncomfortable decisions about how Maine spends its tax money. Naturally, some lawmakers are pushing back against the entire idea of assembling a panel to look in-depth at these issues.

But as Ms. Ashcroft emphasizes, “OPEGA definitely believes that seeking cost savings in Maine state government and striving to make meaningful economic development investments are worthwhile objectives.” This is a large, difficult agenda for lawmakers, but it is also considerably overdue. The GrowSmart strategy gives lawmakers the place to begin.