Democrats in the Maine House yesterday scaled back their proposal to gut a government watchdog agency to help win preliminary approval for their plan to balance the state’s budget.
Responding to Republican opposition, Dems modified plans to all but eliminate the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability to save about $1 million, and instead attached an amendment to cut its funding in half and eliminate three staff positions, a change Republicans vowed to fight further in the Senate, according to Portland news station WCSH 6. The Senate today will consider its version of the budget proposal, a spokesperson for the Maine Legislative Information Office told Mainebiz this morning.
The Legislature is struggling to close a $190 million gap in the state’s two-year, $6.3 billion budget.