Update From Augusta -- February 23, 2010

With Legislative leadership committed to an early adjournment in order to save money, the pace of business in Augusta has quickened. The budget debate is the most important discussion currently underway, and given my place on the Health and Human Services Committee — which has to evaluate over $90 million in cuts proposed by the Administration — I’ve become very familiar with the road between Rumford and Augusta.

The budget discussion has been very difficult because of the impacts the proposed reductions could have on the lives of thousands of Maine citizens — including our most vulnerable neighbors. The debate has become even more complicated because of the numbers — projections and proposals are anything but static and change on an almost daily basis. Many ideas are coming forward, and I have been working with many different agencies to understand the impacts of the proposed cuts and explore alternative approaches.

For example, I have proposed and will continue to advocate for approaches in home based care for our seniors and people with a disability that will book the budget savings without cutting hours for the people receiving the services or reducing wages for direct care workers delivering the service. (To give you some perspective of the number of people these proposed cuts would impact, there are an estimated 22,000 direct care workers employed in Maine). Rather, I have been suggesting targeted cuts on external administrative contracts for the system, as well as consolidations of programs that will produce the same savings.

Specifically, I’m calling for a redesign of the home and community based services system that will reduce the external administrative costs from the current rate of over 10% to 7% of the total budget for home and community based services. This will be accomplished, in part, by combining some of the intake functions — financial eligibility, functional eligibility, and care management together with direct service provision. I have done the research and almost every state has consolidated some or all of these functions, but they are separate in Maine, each delivered through a separate entity or contract — that may duplicate administrative costs. In addition to this savings, I am proposing consolidating programs from 7 distinct ones down to just 3, with an accompanying consolidation of the provider network to create economies of operational scale. Taking this approach, we can book over $7 million of budget savings without reducing any of the hours of service that citizens receive or cutting worker wages.

As always, there is push back from some of the people who have the contracts now and are comfortable with how things are done — but I believe this is the right approach. Change is difficult and resistance to change is understandable. However, this resistance must be overcome if the Legislature is to discharge its responsibilities to Maine citizens. Budget reductions are, unfortunately, necessary. These cuts will be disruptive. Targeted cuts — aimed at administrative costs and promoting program consolidations — are preferable to across the board cuts that will likely have unintended consequences. Will this approach require that state officials and providers make adjustments and dig a little deeper or work a little harder? No doubt. But that is far preferable to creating a burden through these cuts that could disrupt the health and independence of Maine seniors and people with a disability.

We must balance the budget but we cannot do that on the backs of taxpayers or municipalities. The work will continue feverishly for the next few weeks into late March. For up-to-the-minute developments in Augusta as they unfold, please visit me online at Twitter at www.twitter.com/PetersonForMe. As the picture changes daily, I will be posting constant updates in a continued effort to keep people constantly informed of all the happenings in Augusta.

These are challenging times for our state, for our communities, and for our families – but I believe we can come through stronger by working together. I appreciate all the input I am hearing from citizens about this process. Please keep the ideas coming. I need your insights and suggestions for how collaboratively we can build a better Maine.

Please email me at petersonhouse08@gmail.com or give me a call at (207) 776-8051.