(R-Caribou)
This past week we experienced the largest group of citizens to ever visit the State House. They were there to protest the Governor’s budget cuts. The Hall of Flags was jam packed and hallways and stairs were nearly impassable. Those in attendance were mostly senior citizens and disabled Mainers. I have not talked with anyone in Augusta who wants to abandon our moral responsibility to provide for the truly needy and disabled Maine citizens.
Maine’s taxpayers have made it clear that they are struggling with high cost of energy and health care and therefore do not support additional taxes and fees. It has taken 10 years to get into this financial predicament and it will take 10 years to get out of it. That is why decisions to reduce spending must be long term solutions. The decision cannot be ones that transfer tax responsibility to local communities.
Some of the corrective actions that create savings would be:
• Do not continue to enroll working couples, who make $40,000, in Maine Care (Medicaid). We lead the nation in per cent of population in Medicaid.
Nearly 1,400 workers leave state government employment each year. If we would not fill these positions until Maine reduces the size of our government to the national average, we could save $65 million.
Allowing competition in the health insurance market would reduce health insurance costs and save taxpayers money who are paying some health insurance costs for current and retired workers. It is Maine’s workforce who boost the economy and pay most of our taxes.
Some of the best spent money in Maine is at the Community Colleges where graduates are employed in large numbers. Yet we are last in the nation in per cent of our population enrolled. That is why I voted this past week to restore some of the cuts that were made to higher education.
