Budget deal sewed up in committee

Associated Press, May 31, 2007

(excerpts) Completing a compromise that did not always look likely, the Legislature's Appropriations Committee sealed a deal Thursday on more than $6.3 billion in General Fund spending for the two years beginning July 1.

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"So, we're done. We're done," Democratic Sen. Margaret Rotundo of Lewiston, a co-chairman of the committee, said after the last 13-0 vote in late afternoon.

Debate in the full Legislature is expected to begin Monday, when the focus is likely to be the panel's reworking of Gov. John Baldacci's original plan for consolidating Maine's sprawling network of local school systems.

Lawmakers on the Appropriations panel and within the Legislature's rank and file suggest that sentiment on that issue, which has been widely varied to date, could determine the fate of the budget package as long as the package contains the education component.

Baldacci's original proposal was to establish 26 regional education units, a significant reduction from Maine's current 152 school administrative systems.

The revised plan prepared for inclusion in the budget envisions 80 units, based on desired student populations of at least 2,500. Exceptions would be available, but sanctions could face non-complying communities. The budget package counts $36.5 million in savings.

Local reorganization plans would be subject to voter approval. Units that vote against reorganization would face penalties starting on July 1, 2009, including a loss of minimum subsidies, an increase in required mill rates and less favorable consideration in approval and funding for school construction projects.

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To take effect by the July 1 beginning of a new fiscal year, the package would need to win super-majorities of at least two-thirds in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

Approval by lesser majorities would mean that the legislation would not become law until 90 days after the Legislature adjourns.