Maine’s legislators were elected last November because Mainers had a job for us to do: work together to get our state’s financial affairs in order and improve our economy. Unfortunately, Governor LePage had a different idea: shift the state’s responsibilities to our local communities and local taxpayers, which is what Gov. LePage does with his two-year budget: he passes the buck to our communities and local taxpayers.
The cuts to education would hit our local communities particularly hard. By cutting education funding, and shifting the cost of teacher retirement to local communities, the schools of Caribou, Limestone, and Stockholm (RSU 39) would face cuts of almost $400,000. The community schools of Presque Isle, Castle Hill, Chapman, Mapleton, and Westfield (SAD 1) will lose more than $681,000.
Passing the buck doesn’t stop with our schools. The governor’s budget shifts 80 percent of its costs to local municipalities. In addition to our schools, the governor is proposing gutting revenue sharing to municipalities, which would cost Caribou more than $2.5 million and Presque Isle more than $3.4 million. We simply cannot afford this.
Because of these additional burdens, municipalities might be forced to raise property taxes, drastically cut services, including teaching positions at our schools, or both.
That is unacceptable. If we want to fulfill our mandate from the voters to extend the ladder of success to all Mainers, we cannot pull it up from them like this. At some point the state of Maine has to decide what its priorities are. The state has yet to fulfill its commitment to fully fund education per the will of the people.
What is more important than educating our children?
Educating our children is more than just a matter of public policy. It is a matter of values. We value education because it is more necessary than ever before to prepare our children to succeed in a 21st century economy. We need to do what we can to promote a stronger education system that prioritizes Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (also known as STEM). We need to train students in the manufacturing and technical skills they will need to find good-paying jobs in emerging industries. And it is perverse to ask more from our teachers and our schools while giving them less resources.
If we are not investing properly in education, we are moving backwards.
Clearly, many people are upset about these budget proposals. More than 250 people have testified against the governor’s budget before the Appropriations Committee. Many of these people drove long distances from northern and eastern Maine to speak out at a budget hearing in Brewer. This may not be as exotic as taking off to Jamaica, but it is what people have to do when their community is facing such dire challenges.
I believe that Presque Isle City Manager Jim Bennett put it better than anyone when he told the Appropriations Committee that even in a challenging year, there is not a single farmer who would save fuel costs by shutting down machinery and returning to hand-picking. According to Bennett, “There are many that consider the proposed budget shift to communities across our state on par with hand picking product. There are better choices, and the architects of those better choices…are within the confines of this room.”
I agree wholeheartedly. And I will work as hard as I can with the Appropriations Committee to craft an alternative that fulfills our responsibilities, both to our children and to the taxpayers of Maine, rather than one that passes the buck to working Mainers.
Sen. Troy Jackson (D-Allagash) is serving his third term representing Aroostook County in the Maine Senate. He serves as assistant majority leader and as chair of the Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Committee. He can be reached at either 398-4081 (home) or 436-0763 (cell), or via e-mail at SenTroy.Jackson@legislature.maine.gov
