Maine Can Do Better

Advocates Praise Maine’s Congressional Delegation and Obama for Aiding the Budget Crisis

April 1, 2010

Portland, Maine - On the day of President Barack Obama’s visit to Maine, a coalition of 150 organizations is rallying around the Obama Administration and Maine’s federal delegation, thanking them for their leadership over the past many months on state fiscal relief and jobs legislation.

To demonstrate their appreciation for their hard work on and support for federal fiscal relief to the states, the Maine Can Do Better Coalition issued letters of gratitude to President Obama, Sen. Olympia Snowe, Sen Susan Collins, Rep. Michael Michaud and Rep. Chellie Pingree.

The "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" (also known as the fiscal stimulus bill) and the pending "American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010," provide essential resources for state leaders to restore a great many damaging budget cuts in the current biennium.

“In December the state budget outlook was bleak,” said Benjamin Dudley, spokesperson for Maine Can Do Better. “Before us lay a budget proposal that aimed to fill a $438 million dollar budget gap with harmful spending cuts to education, health care, family supports, and local communities. With the help of federal stimulus funds, our Legislature and Governor were able to turn things around. We owe the Obama administration and our Congressional delegates a huge debt of thanks for their commitment to job creation and protecting valuable services that benefit us all.”

The "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" (ARRA) directly provided $550 million in enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP), education and fiscal stabilization funds to balance the biennial budget last year. This year, ARRA and the pending "American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010," together will directly infuse $114 million in new revenues into the supplemental state budget. In March, U.S. Senate action to further extend FMAP came at a critically important time in state budget negotiations (both Maine’s Senators voted in favor of the legislation).

Indirectly, another $51 million in state revenue re-projections is due, according to Maine's Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission, in part to the positive impact of ARRA on Maine''s economy.

Together, these resources were directed by Governor Baldacci and the Legislature to make budget restorations vital to every Mainer. These new revenues will assist in keeping Maine people healthy, prepare Maine''s workforce, support local communities, create and preserve jobs, and serve as a vital and necessary investment in Maine''s future.

“On Tuesday, in sharp contrast to activity in many states, a bipartisan supermajority in the Maine Legislature enacted a supplemental budget for 2010 and 2011,” said Dudley, “It was great to see the deep commitment our elected leaders on the state and federal level have to the people of Maine. We take their commitment as a sign of hope for the work that continues to fully rebound and recover the more than 30,000 jobs lost between the start of the recession and December 2009.”

To read the letter click here to read the letter's to President Barack Obama, U.S. Senator Snowe, U.S. Senator Collins, U.S. Representative Mike Michaud, and U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree.

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Launched in February 2008, Maine Can Do Better represents more than 150 partner organizations throughout the state. These organizations are unified by the idea that sustaining vital public structures is essential to Maine's economic prosperity. When we responsibly invest in community basics, like public safety, health, housing, education, and natural resources, we all prosper. The Maine Can Do Better Coalition includes the following organization:

AARP, Abused Women’s Advocacy Project, ACCESS Public Policy, Adpotive and Foster Families of Maine, Advocacy Initiative Network of Maine, Alpha One, American Heart Association, American Federation of Teachers, Local 4593, American Stroke Association Founders Affiliate, Amicus, Autism Society of Maine, Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, Battered Women's Project, Behavioral Health Community Collaborative, Black Rock Center for Psychotrauma, Broadreach Family & Community Services, Bucksport Bay Healthy Communities Coalition, Caring Unlimited, Central Aroostook ARC, Central Maine Labor Council, Charlotte White Center, Child Care Services of York County, Child and Family, Opportunities, Children's Advocacy Council, Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI), Coastal Workshop, Community Care, Community Concepts, Inc., Community Counseling Center, Community, Health and Counseling Services, Community Housing of Maine, Community Partners, Inc., Community Rehabilitation Services, Consumer Advisory Board, Consumers for Affordable Health Care, Counseling Services, Inc., Cumberland County Board of Commissioners, Cumberland County Domestic Violence Intervention Partnership, Direct Care Alliance, Disability Rights Center of Maine, Downeast Horizons, Elmhurst, Inc., Empower Lewiston, Engage Maine, Environmental Health Stategy Center, Family Crisis Services, Family Planning Association of Maine, Family Violence Project, Foster Family-based Treatment Association - ME Chapter, Friends of the Fund for a Healthy Maine, Friends Together Peer Support and Recovery Center, G.E.A.R. Parent Network, Food AND Medicine, Health Policy Partners of Maine, Eastern Maine Labor Council, Toxics Action Center Campaigns, HealthWays/Regional, Medical Center at Lubec, Inc., Healthy Acadia Coalition, Home Care & Hospice Alliance of Maine, Homeless Voices for Justice, Hope Haven Gospel Mission, Hospitality House, Inc., Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, Iris Network, Justice Committee of the Sisters of Mercy in Maine, Kennebec Behavioral Health, Kennebec Valley Community Action Program, Kennebec Valley Organization, LCLAA-Maine, League of Young Voters, LEAP, Inc., Legal Services for the Elderly, Mabel Wadsworth Women's Health Center, Maine Affordable Rental Housing Coalition, Maine AFL-CIO, Maine AIDS Alliance, Maine Alliance for Addiction Recovery, Maine Alliance to Prevent Substance Abuse, Maine Association for Community Service Providers, Maine Association of Interdependent Neighborhoods, Maine Association of Mental Health Services, Maine Association of Peer Support & Recovery Centers, Maine Association of Psychiatric Physicians, Maine Association of Substance Abuse Programs, Maine Center for Economic Policy, Maine Centers for Women, Work and Community, Maine Children’s Alliance, Maine Choice Coalition, Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Maine Coalition for Housing and Quality Services, Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, Maine Coalition on Smoking or Health, Maine Community Action Association, Maine Council of Churches, Maine Council of Senior Citizens, Maine Developmental Disabilities Council, Maine Education Association, Maine Equal Justice Partners, Maine Head Start Director's Association, Maine Mental Health Connections, Maine Parent Federation, Maine People's Alliance, Maine Primary Care Association, Maine State Employees Association, SEIU Local 1989, Maine, Transition Network, Maine Women's Fund, Maine Women's Lobby, Mainely Kidz PT, Mid Maine Regional Transition Board, Motivational Services, Inc., Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Organization, NAACP Portland Branch, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Maine, National Association of Social Workers Maine Chapter, New Beginnings, New Hope for Women, NFI North, Northeast Occupational Exchange, OHI, Partners in Ending Hunger, Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, Penquis, People's Regional Opportunity Program, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, Penobscot Valley Industries, Portland Organizing to Win Economic Rights, Possibilities Counseling Services, Preble Street, Providence Service Corporation of Maine, Rape Crisis Assistance and Prevention, Rape Education and Crisis Hotline, Rape Response Services, Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Sagadahoc County Working Group on Family Violence, Serenity House, Sexual Assault Crisis Center, Sexual Assault Crisis & Support Center, Sexual Assault Response Services of Southern Maine, Sexual Assault Support Services of Midcoast Maine, Sexual Assault Victims Emergency Services, Shalom House, Social Learning Center of Tri-County Mental Health Services, Speaking Up for Us, Special Children's Friends, Spruce Run, The Children’s Center, The Community School, The Northern Lighthouse,The Progress Center Inc., The Universal Healing Center, Toxics Action Center, Transitions Counseling, Inc., Washington County Children's Program, United Cerebral Palsy of Northeastern Maine, Uplift, Inc., Western Maine Labor Council, Womancare/Aegis, Woodfords Family Services, York County Shelter Programs, Inc., Youth Alternatives/Ingraham, Youth and Family Services.