Headlines

Advocate Urge Congress to Extend Unemployment Benefits, Health Care Assistance, and Aid to States:

From the Maine Center for Economic Policy

"AUGUSTA — Advocates supporting the extension of critical federal support for economic recovery today called on the members of Maine’s Congressional Delegation to continue their support for important federal assistance to state Medicaid programs to help states, like Maine facing significant fiscal crisis, as well as for maintaining needed health care and unemployment benefits for their people."

Maine Voices: Education is our most severe crisis, and the danger is increasing:

Cutbacks in services and programs for students can only have one result, and it won't be good.
By James Gale, featured in the Portland Press Herald
"BATH — It is no secret that among industrialized nations, our high school students perform at the bottom of the list in math and sciences.
School administrators, presidents and lawmakers have addressed this trend in recent times with initiatives and incentives intended to make schools more accountable, economical and successful." 

AP: States' Budget Crisis Land on Children:

CHICAGO - "Now the crisis is reaching the children.

In Arizona, a program that helped blind high school students care for themselves and find jobs is suspended. In South Carolina, all five state-run group homes for kids closed and a program that helped paroled youths get jobs is shuttered. And in Hawaii, a program to reduce child abuse and neglect was cut so much that two years after serving 4,000 families, it now serves 100.

All over the country, the financial crisis has forced states to make historic cuts to close what the National Conference of State Legislatures found was an overall budget gap of $174.1 billion this fiscal year and has lawmakers looking to trim another $89 billion next year."

TIMES RECORD: "Let Voters Decide the Jobs Bond":

"It’s disconcerting that an $85 million bond package, which would create jobs at a time when Maine’s unemployment rate rose to 8.3 percent in February, remains stalled in partisan gridlock at the State House.

If lawmakers adjourn early next week without reaching the two-thirds majority needed in the Senate to send the bond package to voters later this year, they will have fumbled at the goal line in a legislative session that otherwise achieved many fine moments of bipartisan cooperation."

Advocates Praise Maine’s Congressional Delegation and Obama for Aiding the Budget Crisis:

"On the day of President Barack Obama’s visit to Maine, a coalition of 150 organizations is rallying around the Obama Administration and Maine’s federal delegation, thanking them for their leadership over the past many months on state fiscal relief and jobs legislation.

To demonstrate their appreciation for their hard work on and support for federal fiscal relief to the states, the Maine Can Do Better Coalition issued letters of gratitude to President Obama, Sen. Olympia Snowe, Sen Susan Collins, Rep. Michael Michaud and Rep. Chellie Pingree."

Maine Can Do Better Praises Federal & State Leaders for Balanced Approach to Supplemental Budget:

"'Because of this budget, Maine will do better,' said Benjamin Dudley spokesperson for the Maine Can Do Better coalition. 'Thanks to the hard work and forward thinking of our congressional delegation, Governor Baldacci and legislative leaders, additional revenues will restore most of the cuts that would have undermined Maine’s economic recovery.'"

Times Record Says "Maine CAN Do Better": 

On Thursday, March 11th the Times Record editorial board endorsed the recommendations of Maine Can Do Better.

"Why not put these ideas on the table and see how much of the remaining $300-plus million shortfall might be eliminated? Wouldn’t that be a more honest approach than breaking state promises on education funding and community-based mental health services just so Gov. Baldacci can keep his 'no tax hike' promise?..."

"We cannot afford to blindly insist on cuts alone as the way to prosperity. Nor should we slide backwards in social service programs that have proven themselves effective." Read More

Maine Can Do Better Reacts to Changed Supplemental Budget Package:

“We’re heartened by the Governor’s proposed changes to the supplemental budget... Clearly Governor Baldacci heard the concerns of Maine citizens and we thank him for his efforts.

“Despite this progress, there’s still major hole in the state budget: $360 million. That's equivalent to annual state & federal funding for the Maine Departments of Agriculture, Conservation, Economic Development, Marine Resources, The Secretary of State, The Community College System, The Maine Human Rights Commission, and the state court system combined. Read more...

New Report Reveals a Need for Balanced Budget Solutions:

Portland, Maine -- The Maine Can Do Better Coalition, a coalition of more than 150 organizations from across Maine, praised the annual report by the Maine Economic Growth Council (MEGC), saying it should serve as a wake up call for Maine legislators.

In their report, "Measures of Growth in Focus", the MEGC echoed Maine Can Do Better's call for policymakers to look beyond Maine's immediate challenges, stating "it is precisely during [economic] downturns that states, just like companies, must position themselves for growth when the economy finally turns around." The report continues, "We need to continue investment in our workforce and in our infrastructure. We need to support investments that will grow the 'new economy' in Maine". Read More