Connors says budget debate needs attitude adjustment

ROCKPORT – Dana F. Connors, president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, says a change of attitude and mind-set about providing government services will have to take place outside the usual process.

“Perhaps we have outgrown our ability to finance the services provided,” he told a gathering of business leaders at the Samoset Resort on Wednesday. “We have to sit back and look at that.”

Connors made his remarks in the context of the anticipated state budget shortfall of nearly $200 million blamed on declining revenues.

Normally, the second year of a legislative session is a time to look at adjustments to the budget submitted the previous year and emergency issues that come up, he said in an explanation of the legislative process to the group.

“Usually the second year of a two-year cycle is not as important, but I think it’s fair to say that this year it will be,” Connors said.

Pointing out that 80 percent of the budget is used for funding education and human services, he said it looks as if it’s going to be very difficult for the state to provide all of the services people need.

Departing from the current view of solving the budget dilemma by restructuring government, revising spending and offering a sales tax, Connors said now is the time to reduce the tax burden and control spending.

“If there is a sales tax increase or more state spending, that doesn’t encourage businesses to grow and employ more people,” he said.

“When you look at the question of the services government provides, maybe we need to go back and look and ask whether we can afford them,” he said.

While government has a role in providing a safety net for those who have the need, it’s time for a debate on who else besides those outside the need should receive funding, he said.

“I think we all are curious about how we got to that point,” he said. “We certainly are in the middle of that debate.”

Connors said he applauded the governor for putting human services in the middle of the debate, because it’s an area often avoided because of the sensitivities that pertain to those who receive the services.

“We have to examine the question of what are we providing, whether we can afford them, and what our priorities are,” he said.

Connors made it clear he was not talking about privatization of government services, but rather about issues surrounding the question of who receives Human Services funding “from one end of the spectrum to the other, from couples who do not have children but who are eligible because of their income – can we afford that?” he asked.

He said the debate isn’t about the desire to provide services to those in need, but about whether the state can help people to the extent it has in the past.

“I think the governor has raised the issue and challenged us to look at that,” Connors said.

He said attitude and mind-set are part of the answer. “The answer should not be immediately to raise the sales tax to solve the problem. The answer should involve reorganizing, restructuring, or questioning whether we should be providing the services,” he stressed.

A former state commissioner of transportation, Connors said he would base his budgets on road and bridge maintenance, snowplowing, equipment, sand and salt supplies and payroll. The figures of his budget would be factual. But the way he approached his problems would be a matter of perception of whether he saw challenges as positive or negative.

“It’s a fundamental question, but that’s where we are in this debate,” he said. “We’re back to basics.”

gchappell@bangordailynews.net

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