MPBN | Gov. Paul LePage Signed the Supplemental State Budget
| 04/24/2012 Reported By: Mal Leary
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| Gov. Paul LePage has signed the supplemental state budget he had vowed not to support. The Governor says he wants to move forward with a new effort to make further cuts in the State’s Medicaid program, and make significant structural budget changes that will reduce state spending in future years. | |||||||||
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| It came as a surprise to members of the appropriations committee that the Governor finally endorsed the budget, which they had assumed he allow to become law without his signature. Lepage says his line item vetoes won support, and he wants to show good faith as budget negotiations begin on yet another supplemental budget.The governor pegs the medicaid shortfall for next year at nearly $90 million, but acknowledges that may change. the department of health and human services is still working an esimtate of the budget problem following the discovery of computer problems that allowed more than 24 thousand inelligible mainers to get medicaid coverage. the Governor says he wants to reduce eligibility for medicaid to address the shortfall.
But the panel has already rejected efforts to change the basic eligibility criteria for the program, preferring to find savings by making changes in the way the program is managed. Sen. Dawn Hill, a Democrat from Cape Neddick, says it is fortunate the governor’s line item veto power is limited to dollar amounts, and not extended to changes in language. Committee co chair Rchard Rosen, a Republican from Bucksport, says like the medicaid gap, the size of the general assistance shortfall will have to be re-computed as the committee considers another supplemental budget in the weeks ahead. The Governor also line item vetoed funds for what’s called disproportionate share funding for the state psychiatric hospitals. he wants more money appropriated because of the DHHS interpretation of federal rule changes. the Governor wanted $10 million to meet the state?s maximum financial exposure, but the committee only approved about $3 million. the governor says his veto focuses needed attention on the issue. senator Dawn Hill says democrats disagree with the governor’s approach. Flood and Rosen say the committee will start looking at a supplemental budget for Medicaid and other issues as soon as they have estimates from DHHS. They may also get a proposal from Governor LePage spelling out how he wants to close the Medicaid gap in a way that will reduce spending in future years, and not just fix the current problem. |
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