Budget cuts could impact federal aid
Lawmakers attempting to fill projected state budget shortfalls of up to $400 million will have to take into account the potential loss of federal monies if cuts to certain departments fall below levels dictated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and other federal statutes.
Declining revenues have continued to force estimates of budget shortfalls upwards toward $400 million, according to Capital News Service, as state forecasters prepare for yet another budget revision due Dec. 1. Education Commissioner Susan Gendron told lawmakers yesterday that cuts beyond $99 million would put Maine in violation of federal law, according to the news service, while Health and Human Services Commissioner Brenda Harvey said services funded with only state dollars are the ones that could be cut without endangering federal money. Combined, the two departments account for about 80% of Maine's general fund budget of $5.8 billion.
Harvey had already been instructed to find $9 million in cuts when the state was trying to make up a $30 million shortfall in the 2011 biennial budget; she said expects she'll be asked to find in excess of $64 million more, according to the Kennebec Journal. "For the public that says, 'They should just cut the fat' -- it isn't there," Harvey said, according to the paper.
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