‘Maine Can Do Better’ crowd floods State House, demands alternatives to cuts

Scroll to the bottom of the page for video of the speakers, and click here for all of our photos.

See also: Mainers on budget cuts

Family planning. The Headstart program. Affordable housing. Community mental health services.

K-12 education. Domestic violence and sexual assault services. Foster care homes. Senior services. Health care. The University of Maine and community colleges.

MR/DD group services. State jobs.

More than 1,000 people came to the State House Wednesday to lobby against budget cuts to Health and Human Services and education.

The rally was organized by a coalition of more than 100 community groups who make up Maine Can Do Better – which was also the slogan of the rally. The Web site was launched 10 days ago.

In the morning, they filled every nook and cranny of the State House, lobbying legislators, waving signs and hosting a press conference. The crowds were so bad that capitol security pondered calling the fire marshal, instead shuffling some of the crowd off to overflow rooms in the Cross office building.

The Appropriations Committee is currently reviewing Gov. John Baldacci’s supplemental budget package which addresses the $190 million budget deficit.

Baldacci proposes a 40 percent reduction in school spending, a 32 percent reduction at the Department of Health and Human Services, an 11 percent reduction at the University of Maine and community colleges, and a 17 percent reduction in other state agencies, WMTW and the Associated Press reported.

A sizeable crowd stuck around Wednesday afternoon to testify in front of the Appropriations and Health and Human Services committees on the cuts. A similar hearing was held Tuesday with the Education Committee.

Click here for the AP's coverage of Wednesday's hearings.

Melissa Richter, a volunteer board member for the Sweetser mental health agency and a Cumberland realtor, gave the opening remarks at the press conference.

The less-fortunate have already sustained too many cuts, she said. Cutting more will just cost more in the long run.

“There has to be a better way,” Richter said. “One that is more equitable, looks at a combination of sustainable cuts, short term revenues and the State’s Rainy Day fund. Frankly this path is one that will actually save the state money.”

After she finished, a series of 12 speakers gave a presentation called “The Fabric of our Community.” They each spoke briefly about 12 areas affected by the cuts.

Click here for video of the presentations.

The final speaker was Rev. Jill Job Saxby, executive director of the Maine Council of Churches, who spoke about the moral aspects of the budget.

“In the long run, these cuts will no doubt cost us all more in dollars than we’ll save in the short run,” Saxby told the crowd. “In the financial sense, they are a short-sighted fix. But the same is also true in the moral sense – these cuts will cost us more as a society than they are worth. We can do better.”

She added: “This way of balancing the budget tears a big hole in the notion of the common good.”

The Maine Transition Network was one of the groups out in full force. The group helps people with disabilities transition from high school to the real world.

The network was established by a legislative initiative in 1986. They have lost 50 percent of their funding since 2005. Now they stand to lose 25 percent of what’s left.

Michael Ashmore, director of the network, said they have looked for outside funding, but it’s difficult because they do preventative work instead of crisis work.

State Rep. Patrick Flood, R-Winthrop and a member of the Appropriations Committee, said the rally didn’t have much of an impact on him. What he does find persuasive, he said, is one on one communications with constituents.

He said his biggest concern in the budget deliberations is not cutting anything which then might impact public safety.

House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven, said there is a lot of frustration among the House Democrats about the cuts. She said the HHS cuts are “significant, and some of them unpalatable.”

“When the public shows up and shows us the real impact, it makes a difference,” she said of the rally.

Senate Minority Leader Carol Weston, R-Montville, said the budget crisis spawned from state government trying to help too many people. Now, the ones who most need the help are at risk.

“We’ve pretended that we can cover then through tax dollars,” she said.

She said she was in meetings with constituents all morning. This included a mother with two disabled children whose services are at risk. Yet there are people known as “non-cats” – people who aren’t disabled and don’t have children, getting benefits.

“They have a choice,” Weston said. “I hope we can sort this out, and make sure we’re not taking help from those who most need it.”

Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, said capitol security came to her and asked if she should shut the State House down because the number of people exceeded its capacity. She said no.

“I’m glad they came,” she said. “I’m glad people were putting out what is the face of these cuts.”

She said her priority with the budget is making sure that when the economy rebounds, Maine can recover too.

She said she doesn’t want to have “removed so much of the safety net that we can’t recover quickly,” she said. “Let’s not cut things that give us money today, but cost us money tomorrow.”