Proposed DHHS cuts draw protest Raising taxes suggested as alternative

AUGUSTA – Mainers from across the state packed the State House on Wednesday to protest impending deep budget cuts in the Department of Health and Human Services. An additional $27.5 million has been targeted for cutting in the most recent budget reduction package submitted last week by the Baldacci administration, on top of $65 million in cuts already proposed as part of the original budget revision for the 2008-2009 biennium.

Credible alternatives to the proposed cuts were scarce, but some suggestions were to raise taxes, dip into the state’s Rainy Day Fund, reduce the number of state employees, reduce lawmakers’ daily meal and transportation stipends, and require state employees to pay a greater portion of their health insurance premiums.

The unhappy crowd included many with evident physical and developmental disabilities, as well as the elderly, victims of domestic violence, people with mental illness and substance abuse problems, service providers, lobbyists and others. They thronged the Hall of Flags before the start of a public hearing and spilled over into adjacent hallways and stairwells. Many wore bright “Maine can do better” stickers and carried signs in preparation for an energetic protest rally.

The liberal Maine Center for Economic Policy was one of dozens of Maine organizations sponsoring the rally in the Hall of Flags. Executive director Christopher St. John said that despite Gov. John Baldacci’s commitment to impose no new taxes, many Mainers would support a 1 cent increase in the state sales tax in order to continue funding essential programs. A three-way combination of less-drastic cuts, new tax revenues and some spending from the Budget Stabilization Fund, as the Rainy Day Fund is officially named, would make for better policy than axing nearly $200 million out of existing programs, he said.

Sherrie Lang, 38, was among those who made the trip to the State House, accompanied by her personal care assistant. Lang lives in a Hampden group home for people with mental disabilities. For the past two years, she said, she has had a part-time job at the Dairy Queen on Broadway in Bangor. The proposed DHHS cuts would eliminate her job coach – who acts as an intermediary between her and her employer – as well as her transportation to work and back, she said.

“If you don’t have a job, you don’t get paid,” Lang said, “and you can’t go anywhere if you don’t have money.”

Eunice Spooner, 69, of Sidney has been confined to a wheelchair for 25 years. Spooner, who lives alone, said she provides employment to three workers and remains active in community affairs. She uses her own savings to supplement what the state allows for her personal care workers because the state pay isn’t enough to ensure the quality and dedication she needs, she said.

“If these cuts go through, I will have to double what I pay out of my own accounts,” she said. “Once my capital is gone, I’ll be in a nursing home for $62,000 a year, all in state funds.”

By 10 a.m. the Appropriations Committee room was filled to capacity, with all seats occupied and people standing shoulder-to-shoulder in every available space. Senate Chairman Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, urged participants to listen to the proceedings in one of four designated overflow rooms. But the committee room and the hallway outside remained packed throughout most of the day.

Joined by members of the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, the appropriations panel took powerful testimony from a broad spectrum of providers and consumers of services. First to testify was the Rev. Jill Saxby, executive director of the Maine Council of Churches. Saxby counseled lawmakers to regard the budget as a “moral document” as well as a financial one, one that reflects the values of the people of Maine.

She urged them to act like a family confronting financial difficulties, by seeking additional sources of income and dipping into savings as well as looking for ways to save money. “Who would want to live in a family that would say to its oldest, sickest and most vulnerable, ‘Sorry, you’re on your own; we can’t afford to be related to you anymore’?” she asked.

Lawmakers heard testimony about the proposed elimination of day programs for mentally and physically disabled Mainers. The programs provide physical, behavioral, occupational and speech therapy as well as social and employment opportunities for clients.

William Neal, 22, who lives at a group home in Bangor, said he visits the Amicus day program five days a week. Without it, he said, he would spend his days at the group home instead of improving his reading and math skills, his physical coordination and his social skills. Neal suffers from cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair.

“I urge you not to take this option away; people will go downhill fast,” he said.

Moving and at times graphic testimony about the loss of support programs for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault brought several committee members to tears. Clients of the Spruce Run program in Bangor described their ordeals and the help they have received in escaping abusive relationships.

“Without Spruce Run, my six children would have been taken into state custody and I would still be trapped,” said one woman. If state funding is lost, she said, “the chain of help will be broken, and the chain of abuse will be strengthened.” The state’s 24-hour hot line, safe housing for battered spouses and children, support groups, school-based outreach programs and other services could be eliminated, according to advocates for Spruce Run and similar programs.

Others at the hearing protested proposed cuts in substance abuse treatment, prescription drug coverage and podiatry services provided through Maine’s Medicaid program, MaineCare.

The Fund for a Healthy Maine, which is intended for funding public health measures such as smoking cessation and childhood immunization programs, has been suggested as a possible source of revenues, but several speakers said it should be off-limits for general DHHS programs.

Tarren Bragdon of the conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center offered some alternatives to Baldacci’s cuts, including reducing MaineCare eligibility, cutting faculty and staff within the University of Maine System and tightening up spending by members of the Legislature. In a report released Wednesday, the center proposed $217 million in spending cuts available for budget-balancing. Nearly half – $96.6 million – could be realized by eliminating vacant state positions, a hiring freeze and attrition, the report said.

“Maine is not a wealthy state, yet our enrollment parameters are far above the national averages on many programs – which creates unsustainable spending levels which Maine taxpayers cannot afford,” Bragdon said in a statement.

The public hearing wrapped up at 5 p.m.

Earlier in the day, Senate Majority Leader Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Vassalboro, said in a hallway interview that she could “guarantee [Baldacci’s] budget will not stand.”

“Changes will be made,” she said. “First we have to hear from the people, and then we’ll decide which of these cuts we simply cannot stomach.”

The Appropriations Committee has until the end of the month to rework the governor’s budget revisions and present them to the full Legislature for a vote. The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn in April.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

mhaskell@bangordailynews.net

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