Appropriations Committee Budget
March 25, 2010 -
Appropriations Committee Budget
On Tuesday, March 23rd, the Appropriations Committee closed the biennial budget. The Governor's initial budget called for $438 million in cuts. On Tuesday, Appropriations unanimously voted on $310 million of cuts. Here's a quick snapshot of some highlights:
Health Care
Health care was planned to receive an $85.7 million cut, but that was reduced to $23 million, a restoration of $62.7 million. This was done by eliminating a ten percent cut to twenty different Medicaid programs. Some programs are still subject to their ten percent reduction, which includes transportation services, behavioral health services, and other programs. Hospitals will experience a $14.7 million cut.
Revenue Sharing & the Circuit Breaker Rebate
The circuit breaker property tax relief program was expected to be cut by $5.6 million. The Appropriations Committee has decided to fully fund the relief program and restored all cut funds. Revenue sharing, which is money given to cities and towns for their general funds, was projected to be cut by $27 million. The Appropriations Committee has restored this funding by $11 million, $6 million for fiscal year 2010, and $5 million for fiscal year 2011.
Education
Originally, the Governor had proposed a $73 million cut to General Purpose Aid, the money the State gives to local school boards. The Appropriations Committee has restored $25 million, for a total cut of $48 million. Only $10 million is being cut for the 2010-2011 calendar year. $38 million was cut from all schools for the current year. This is still a large cut, but it provides a small amount of relief for Maine schools.
Higher education was expected to receive a $16 million cut, but Appropriations restored $8 million, leaving an $8 million cut. Adult Education saw relief too, with an estimated $580,000 cut reduced to $80,000
