By Stephan Bunker
When I was elected to represent our communities in Augusta, I knew that achieving a practical, sustainable budget was the biggest challenge facing us as a Legislature. Last month, we were able to deliver by passing a two-year continuing services budget that will allow us to avert a state government shutdown in July when a new fiscal year begins. During a time of deep uncertainty in Washington, D.C., this budget provides predictability and stability for the people of Farmington and Chesterville.
LD 609 is a responsible, governing budget that will ensure that the state pays its bills to hospitals, nursing homes and pharmacies. It will also maintain our commitment to continue funding 55% of K-12 public education costs and municipal revenue sharing, giving towns and cities some financial certainty as they work to craft their local budgets. This budget does not expand existing programs or create any new programs.
I’ve heard from a number of constituents about the rise in property taxes and its effect on already tight budgets. Without this critical funding, the burden of municipal costs for local services would fall directly on local residents and lead to an even bigger increase in property taxes, thereby straining family budgets even more.
Breakfast and lunch for Maine students is also included, something that is needed now more than ever with the federal government recently freezing funding for school meal programs in Maine. Every student should be able to focus on their studies and not on where their next meal is coming from. This will help lead to better learning outcomes.
The continuing services budget also includes $118 million to fill the MaineCare funding gap, which will help support rural hospitals, including those in our area. It allocates $7.6 million to implement a cost-of-living adjustment to essential support and direct care workers, and $2 million to protect Maine forests by remediating a severe spruce budworm outbreak, something that is desperately needed to protect our forestry industry.
In the coming weeks, the Legislature intends to take up another bill with additional initiatives as the second part of the budget. These important policy discussions will shape the direction of our state in the near future. I’m looking forward to continuing to work to make life better for working families in our district and across our state.
If you have questions or concerns regarding the budget or if you have ideas for future legislation, you can reach me directly at Stephan.Bunker@legislature.maine.gov or call my office at 207-287-1430.