Buckle Up . . .

Starting today, buckle up or risk a fine Portland Press Herald April 1, 2008 Changes in state law mean that failure to use seat belts can bring fines ranging from $50 to $250. By GLENN ADAMS, The Associated Press AUGUSTA — Maine has a seat belt law, but police have issued just warnings to violators since it was bolstered in September. As of today, it's no more Mr. Nice Guy. Maine's Bureau of Highway Safety, its federal counterpart and other safety organizations have been getting the word out to drivers that the law changes as of today so first-time violators can get $50 tickets. Second violations can bring $125 fines, and third and subsequent offenses can lead to $250 fines. Since September, violators have gotten only warnings. Previously, motorists had to be pulled over for separate violations if they were to be cited for failing to use seat belts. Now, Maine becomes the 26th state with a primary safety belt law, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Under the law, the driver is responsible for making sure that passengers 18 and younger are secured in their belts. After age 18, passengers and drivers are responsible for themselves. As April arrives, the main message is not that police will be aggressively looking for non-belted drivers; instead, the state is emphasizing that seat belts save lives while preventing losses, estimated at $33 million per year, to taxpayers in medical expenses and lost productivity, said the bureau's director, Lauren Stewart. One reason taxpayers bear a financial burden is that they have to cover medical costs of MaineCare recipients. State figures show that those enrolled in the public health care program and uninsured motorists are more likely than others to not wear safety belts, officials say. The bureau estimates that the law will save 10 lives and prevent 155 serious injuries per year in Maine, based on an expected 10 or 11 percent increase in seat belt use, Stewart said. That would bring compliance in Maine, which just a few years ago had the nation's third-worst rate, up to 90 percent, Stewart said. The national average is 82 percent compliance. Douglas Bracy, president of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association who has been at many an accident scene, puts the new law's effect in other terms. "In 30 years of law enforcement, I've seen what should have been minor accidents end up as tragedies," said Bracy, who is York's police chief. Bracy said motorists should be in the habit of buckling up, even for short trips. "Nobody goes out to get into an accident," he said. Officials also urge motorists not to be lulled into a false sense of safety because they are seated behind air bags. Air bags are designed to be most effective while safety belts are fastened, and may not deploy with the best effect if the motorist is unbelted, Bracy said. Some groups are harder to convince of the importance of wearing restraints. The hardest group to get to is male pickup truck drivers. ages 18-34, Stewart said. Next are teenagers, a group prone to risky behavior. Finally, people age 65 and over, who may have started driving before seat belts were widely used, simply have developed bad habits over the years. But there's another side to the picture. Young people have always been required and expected to use them. State officials say police will enforce the seat belt law as they would any other motor vehicle law during regular patrols. However, at key times through the year, they will participate in special enforcement efforts.

An Article of Interest . . .

Maine gets a two-day reprieve on Real ID law Portland Press Herald, April 1, 2008 Maine residents could be barred from using driver's licenses to board planes or enter federal buildings. By JONATHAN E. KAPLAN, Washington D.C. Correspondent The Department of Homeland Security avoided a showdown with Maine on Monday by giving the state two extra days to agree in principle to upgrade its driver's license. Unless the state uses the extension to show that it is complying with the federal Real ID law, however, Maine residents could be barred from using their driver's license to board commercial airliners and enter federal buildings. To avoid such restrictions, the state must either stop issuing licenses to illegal immigrants or make sure that a license expires on the same day as a person's visa, according to a copy of a letter that Stewart Baker, the Homeland Security assistant secretary for policy, sent to Gov. John Baldacci. Maine is one of six states that allow illegal immigrants to apply for licenses. Baker asked that Maine issue different licenses to illegal immigrants, check an applicant's legal status with Homeland Security and take a photograph as the first step in the process of issuing a license. He also asked Maine to employ facial recognition technology to ensure that one person cannot obtain multiple driver's licenses. Baldacci has until 5 p.m. Wednesday to respond. David Farmer, a spokesman for Baldacci, confirmed that the provisions had been the subject of talks with Homeland Security. He said the governor had not received formal notification by Monday evening. Earlier in the day, the Department of Homeland Security granted an extension to South Carolina, one of a few states, including Maine, with laws forbidding state participation in Real ID. Maine and South Carolina were the last holdouts. The potential crisis has been brewing for months. Congress passed the Real ID law in 2005. It requires states to upgrade their driver's licenses to prevent forgeries and make it harder for non-U.S. citizens to obtain them. But state and local officials and some U.S. lawmakers raised privacy concerns and charged that the law was an unfunded mandate. Seventeen states, including Maine, passed legislation opting out of the law and prohibiting state funds from being used to implement it. Once the level of opposition became clear, Homeland Security officials relented and allowed states to extend the deadline for compliance. But some states requested an extension while admitting to the agency that they would not comply with the law. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, pressed Baldacci to ask Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for an extension. She even sent Baldacci a letter last month telling him what to say in the letter. "I am hopeful that with these negotiations, Maine residents will avoid the tremendous inconvenience that would otherwise occur when they tried to use their driver's licenses for air travel beginning on May 12," Collins said Monday in a prepared statement. Last week, Baldacci sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security saying the state had upgraded its driver's licenses and complied with most of the agency's new rules. But he did not ask Chertoff to extend the March 31 deadline. "The biggest issue is on technical details of the issuance of our driver's licenses," said Farmer, the governor's spokesman. "Perhaps if we had asked for an extension, we would not have had to go into a level of detail. Since we did not, our processes are being vetted very carefully." "The governor's goal is to make sure that Maine people are not put through some unnecessary rigmarole" after May 11, Farmer said. Baldacci and his aides spent the weekend negotiating with Baker. Chertoff had been traveling in the Middle East and returned this weekend, said Laura Keehner, his spokeswoman. Collins and Sen. Olympia Snowe, also a Republican, weighed in on the negotiations Monday when they returned to Washington after a two-week recess. Collins, the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has oversight over the Homeland Security Department, made contact with Baldacci and Chertoff on Monday afternoon, said her spokeswoman, Jen Burita. Maine's two Democratic congressmen have little interest in mediating a solution. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, who has proposed legislation to repeal the Real ID law, encouraged his former colleague in Congress, Baldacci, to stand firm against Chertoff. "I made the case that we ought to push back as hard as we can because what they're proposing is to coerce states," Allen said. "This kind of threat to require passports or similar identification from a particular state is not appropriate." Rep. Michael Michaud co-sponsored Allen's bill. -- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Parties split over budget recommendations

Late last week the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee wrapped up their work on a supplemental budget proposal to fill the current budget hole of nearly $200 million. Despite an effort to craft a bipartisan plan, Republicans and Democrats will present separate budget proposals to the full Legislature. Republicans and Democrats agreed to many of the measures presented by the Governor to cover the $190 million budget shortfall in the state’s $6.3 billion biennial budget. These measures include savings from reorganization within the Department of Health and Human Services, cuts to MaineCare services provided to childless adults and a reduction in state aid to local schools. The two parties also agreed to partially restore the Governor’s cuts to higher education, foster parent reimbursements, as well as domestic violence and sexual assault services. The majority Democrat plan includes the sweeping of multiple state accounts and the elimination of the Legislature’s Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA). Their plan also includes a move to allow the state treasurer to accelerate the sale of stocks that are being held by the state as unclaimed property, which would bring in approximately $9 million. Republicans rejected the idea as a risky one-time scheme along the lines of the failed unused gift card recapture from last year’s budget, a move that contributed to the current shortfall. The Republicans on the committee presented their own plan that called for legislators and legislative employees to contribute 10 percent to their own health insurance premiums, which are currently fully covered by the state. Their plan would also have accepted the Governor’s proposal to limit Medicaid spending on non-disabled, childless adults and mandate three unpaid government holidays. They also proposed a 10 percent reduction for payments to candidates who apply to run as publicly-funded candidates during the 2008 election cycle. Both committee reports are expected to be presented to the full Legislature this week. email from Representative Cotta 3/26/08

Democrat Budget Plan would Eliminate OPEGA

Democrats on the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee included a controversial measure in their majority budget plan to close the Legislature’s Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA). The maneuver will book nearly $1.2 million in savings in the current biennium. Republicans on the committee issued a separate budget document that does not include the OPEGA cut. OPEGA is a nonpartisan office that conducts reviews and audits of programs and agencies within state government that use public funds. The agency is overseen by a committee that is comprised of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. OPEGA has issued nearly a dozen reports and is currently undertaking a review of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. OPEGA uncovered $167,806 of misused funds and possible fraud during one of its reviews. The case is now pending in front of the Attorney General’s office. Another report reviewed the state’s economic development programs which cost taxpayers over $200 million. Their report showed that these programs lack oversight and are oftentimes duplicative. They estimate that their reports have suggested over $2.1 million in annual savings. email from Representative Cotta 3/26/08

Good News for State Budget

Bangor Daily News Feb. 19, 2008 By Mal Leary, Capitol News Service AUGUSTA, Maine — After getting a lot of bad news recently from the federal government, the state has received some good news — to the tune of $12 million — that will help ease the difficult task of balancing the state budget, according to the Baldacci administration. Health and Human Services Commissioner Brenda Harvey said the Centers for Medicaid Services are allowing the state to file a plan to comply with recently announced Medicaid rule changes instead of requiring that they take effect immediately. The delay until July 1 in the rule implementation involving case management will reduce the cost to the state’s General Fund by about $12 million this fiscal year, Harvey said. "It provides a little more time for the providers to work with us and adjust their systems," she said. "But some rule changes will take effect immediately. For example, there are some things that simply are unallowable — like billing for child welfare or billing for adult protective services, probation and parole — that have an impact on the General Fund, and we are putting those in effect starting March 1." In an interview Friday, Gov. John Baldacci stressed that balancing the budget will be hard — even as he welcomed the rule implementation delay from CMS. "We will get it done, but it won’t be easy," he said. "There are a lot of moving parts to the budget, and this good news from CMS will help." Harvey noted that until CMS acts on Maine’s compliance plan, the state will not know for sure if it will have until July 1 to implement the new rules, which require billing in 15-minute increments by providers. She said both the state and the providers need to change computer programming to change the billing procedure. In an e-mail to all targeted case management providers on Friday, Harvey said: "What this means for you is that you can continue to deliver services until we give you reasonable notice exactly how to transition or end what you do. I know a number of you were about to provide notices to clients and staff." In commenting a few weeks ago on the pending federal changes in Medicaid rules, Baldacci administration officials said the changes could cost the state $45 million through the next 16 months. They also said community losses, including for nonprofit health care providers and schools, could total $141 million over the same period. Baldacci said Friday that while the rule implementation delay will help, the state still faces a huge budgetary impact from the Medicaid changes and he is working with other governors and the state’s congressional delegation to get a delay in all of the rule changes now set for July 1 — or their outright repeal. "This is an issue affecting many states and there is an effort under way to [get] the Congress to act again on this," the governor said. Congress had approved a year’s delay in the rules last December as part of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program legislation. But the SCHIP bill was vetoed by President Bush, and his veto was sustained. Baldacci said the Medicaid rule changes and the softening economy are two causes of the state’s budgetary problems. He said his proposed supplemental budget addresses the currently identified $95 million revenue shortfall, but now the scope of the need is about $99 million more. "This is all still evolving," he said in the interview. "We don’t know what the revenue picture is yet." The state’s revenue forecasting group meets next week to discuss adjustments to revenue estimates, which some lawmakers now believe will be reduced by about $50 million. Baldacci said there are two parallel efforts to identify possible budget cuts that are confusing to the public — and to lawmakers. The Appropriations Committee sent a memorandum to legislative committees seeking ideas for budget cuts that would add up to $99 million, and Finance Commissioner Rebecca Wyke sent a memo asking agencies to scrutinize all of their programs and prioritize them. "Just because they are looking at something does not mean we are going to propose it," Baldacci said. "Yes, the commissioner of corrections looked at closing Longview [a youth correctional facility in South Portland], but that is not going to happen. There are a lot of things being looked at that won’t be part of the solution, once we know what the target is." Some legislative committees expressed concern — and even anger — when several commissioners said last week that they were not in a position to discuss what ideas they had given to the governor. But Baldacci himself expressed frustration about some of the reports the legislative committees are issuing. "All we are getting now is additional requests — more money, more positions, more projects," he said. "Wait a minute. We got to take care of the red ink first." Work on developing the state budget package to address the revenue shortfall slowed last week and will proceed slowly this week, as some committees are not meeting at all. The Appropriations Committee is meeting, and Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, the panel’s co-chairman, said members would be pleased to hear some good news from the federal government. "We’ll take any good news we can get," she said. "We haven’t had much of that this year." Rep. Sawin Millett, R-Waterford, one of the lead GOP members of the committee, agreed. But he said the task facing the committee is still huge and still a moving target. "We’re still going to have a challenge," he said.

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?