State’s transportation system in jeopardy
To the Editor:
I am a resident of Maine for nearly 48 years now. I was brought up here where men and women had to work all their lives to raise their family and pay taxes. Unfortunately most people worked physically demanding jobs just to make ends meet. I am proud to be from Maine.
I am writing today because I feel obligated to share the latest news that our newly elected Governor is up to. I was informed recently that Mr. LePage has prepared a bill to be passed by the end of June, before legislation closes for the season, to save money within the state.
He has proposed a bill called: “A Single Statewide Transportation Broker System”. This program will replace what we call ARTS in Aroostook County and Lynx in Penobscot County. These programs are designed to help low-income families and the elderly to arrange for monetary travel reimbursements or actual transportation to medical appointments.
This new program is supposed to save the state a large sum of money along with some other garble mentioned, too many empty words to mention for this article. If we allow this bill to pass, our transportation system will drastically change. We must act now according to the document I received and what I have learned on the Maine.Gov. website.
The broker system will have a call center in Maine that will employ 100 agents that will have to serve all areas of Maine. The broker will be a for-profit or non-profit entity that will be moving into Maine to do business while their main office will be outside the state of Maine. The broker system is supposed to choose the most effective mode of transportation for us. There will be fewer buses available due to the rising gas prices and volunteers can no longer afford travel for the same reason. We will no longer be able to receive any upfront funding to travel but will have to wait at least two weeks, if not more, after an appointment to be reimbursed.
I have numbers and a couple of websites we must contact to prevent this from happening. I will list the contact information below. But please let me say one more important notice. LePage will hire 100 people to run this new program, while 10 agencies throughout the state of Maine will be closed. Approximately 400 working people in the state of Maine will be unemployed and standing at the unemployment line. We have no choice but to voice our opinion to stop this from being passed. We have until June 30, 2011.
Please contact to oppose: Governor’s office (207) 287-3053; DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhem (207) 287-3707; MDOT Commissioner David Bernhardt (207) 642-3020. The websites are michelle.probert@maine.gov (contact the division of Policy and Performance) at e-mail address delta.cseak@maine.gov, or phone (207) 287-6348 to reach rule-making liaison, Marina Thibeau at www.maine.gov/dhhs/oms/
Please do not feel that your phone call will not count. Everyone who calls can make a difference on this motion.
Sandra Polchies
Houlton
