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November 29, 2012

State spending halt proposed to stanch red ink

Maine's top finance official projects state agencies will have to curtail fiscal year 2013 spending by $37 million in the coming weeks to make up a tax revenue shortfall, the Bangor Daily News reported.

The latest projections add to a revenue shortfall figure that has grown since the first month of this budget year and totaled $27 million in October. Adding to that, revenue projections for the two-year budget to take effect July 1, 2013, fall short of previous projections by $126.6 million.

The immediate shortfall is largely a result of lower-than-expected sales and corporate income tax revenues.

In response, the BDN reported that Gov. LePage is considering a temporary measure called "curtailment" that would allow state agencies to start cutting spending immediately.

By state law, that process requires cuts to come from state agency budgets in an equitable and consistent way, the newspaper reported, rather than targeting specific areas for cuts or restructuring.

Sawin Millet, the state's finance commissioner, said the administration could unveil such a curtailment plan by mid-December in advance of a new two-year budget proposal expected from the governor's office on Jan. 11.

Legislators on both sides of the aisle expressed hesitation about using the curtailment process to address the shortfall.

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