Lawmakers OK $166M supplemental budget (Socialist state deathwatch)

Bangor Bolshevik Daily ^ | 1/28/09 | Mal Leary

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AUGUSTA, Maine — Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved an emergency measure Tuesday to bring the state budget out of the red for the fiscal year that ends June 30. The $166 million supplemental budget was enacted by votes of 120-22 in the House and 31-3 in the Senate.

“I want to congratulate the Legislature and the committees for their work on this,” Gov. John Baldacci said in an interview. “This was a difficult budget and now we have to work on the biennial budget, which will also be difficult.”

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[snip] Leaders of both parties supported the measure, which was crafted and approved unanimously by the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee and had significant differences from the governor’s original proposal. Baldacci had proposed a package of one-time revenue sources and spending cuts to bring the budget into balance, but an accounting mistake at Maine Revenue Services added $11 million to the budget gap.

“We fixed that by taking additional money from the reserves,” said Rep. Emily Cain, D-Orono, the House chairman of the panel. “We know that in many ways there is even harder work ahead of us as we take up the state budget for the next two years.”

No, more harder work for the rest of US. More welfare benefits for bums and teenage welfare queens, harder work for us ahead. That budget won't even last six months with what we are spending on our bloated and out of control government.

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Committee kills toilet seat cover bill
By Susan M. Cover January 29, 2009 01:54 PM

The Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee voted unanimously today to kill a bill that would have required all public places with restrooms to provide disposable toilet seat covers.

Rep. Paulette Beaudoin, D-Biddeford, said she sponsored the bill because she was concerned about keeping children healthy in public restrooms. She asked the committee to give the bill a fair hearing.

“I received a call from an angry gentleman saying that this is a ridiculous waste of time and money,” she said. “My main concern is for children. If this bill keeps children from getting sick and saves money in health care costs, then we should provide this protection.”

A few groups — the Maine Association of Agricultural Fairs, Maine School Management Association, and the Maine Restaurant Association — testified in opposition to the bill, citing the high cost of adding the dispensers and covers.

And Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, provided written testimony that said she could not find evidence to support the belief that disposable toilet seat covers decrease the spread of infectious diseases.

“In one study of bacteria counts in bathrooms, toilet seats had lower bacterial counts than did the faucet handles on the sinks,” she wrote.

She suggested that hand washing is the best method of protecting against disease transmission.

Because the committee voted unanimously against the bill, it will not move forward to the full Legislature.