MAINE VOICES from Portland Press Herald

Top state earners should pick up slack for cuts Portland Press Herald 2/19 ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Paul Bulger is a resident of Cape Elizabeth. Here's the challenge: Double the amount you get as a federal rebate, and send it to the state. I read with interest Bill Nemitz's column on the plight of foster parents in the face of pending budget cuts to the Foster Care Program in the state ("Who will rescue the lost kids?" Feb. 1). Nemitz describes the struggles and concerns of the Garcia family, who have, over the years, taken in dozens of children abandoned by their families and who now anticipate 30 percent cuts in rates of reimbursement in the Foster Care Program. Al Garcia asks: "What will DHHS do when these kids start showing up on their doorstep?" Indeed. What will they do? I listened to Gov. Baldacci's State of the State speech a couple of weeks back in which he expressed a need to make difficult decisions while still delivering essential services. It must be difficult to take a meat ax to programs that support the neediest, most impoverished, most destitute and underrepresented constituency in our state: our abused and abandoned children. I was approached by a solicitor at the dump last week seeking my signature on yet another petition to cut taxes. I asked him what programs he intended to cut. He looked stunned, as if tax cuts do not require cuts in state-sponsored programs. He could not describe a single service or program to cut. I told him to read the paper. Read the governor's proposals. We already know where the cuts will fall. The cuts will fall on programs that support children and adults with disabilities, the homeless, the elderly, and school programs for the disabled, and housing programs for those who struggle to find decent affordable housing, and medical care for the poor and the elderly. Our budget politics are absolutely shameful. If we can fix a budget problem with an across-the-board cut of 5 percent, why do we have to impose a 30 percent cut on programs supporting the most vulnerable populations in our society? What is government for? The government is us. What are we doing? Where is the outrage? Well, I am outraged, and I intend to put my money where my mouth is. Under the 2008 Congressional Buy My Vote Act of 2008, my family is entitled to a rebate of $2,100 (at least until it gets means-tested out of existence). I will double whatever the federal government sends me and remit it to the state to restore these programs. I ask that the 35,000 richest families in the state do the same. That would be the state's top 10 percent of earners measured in gross earnings. Call it $4,000 per household for 35,000 households for a total of $140 million. These earners can take a $4,000 income tax deduction for their charitable contribution worth at least $1,600 per family at combined state and federal rates. They pay for half of their contribution with their federal rebate, in any case. With the extra money over the biennium, the state can boost its rainy day fund and prepare itself to continue to support essential programs. For these families, the real after-tax out-of-pocket cost is negligible. For my support, and the support of my fellow citizens, all I ask of my governor and my Legislature is real leadership and an intelligent approach to management of the budget. I will wait for the governor's call. As for my fellow contributing citizens, for a very small price, each of those families might help save a life, or several lives, just like the Garcias. What could be more satisfying than that?