Category: Maine
Baldacci Tackles Education Issues at National Governors Meeting
NGA
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
2/24/08
WASHINGTON— Gov. John Baldacci, D-Maine, along with governors from throughout the country, tackled education issues at a national meeting of governors on Sunday.
“I think as governors we have a very big responsibility when it comes to education,” Baldacci said in an interview. “It really can have an impact both in terms of our states’ and our nation’s future.”
Baldacci is a member of the Education, Early Childhood and Workforce Committee within the National Governors Association, which held its annual winter meeting this weekend in Washington.
At the meeting of the committee Sunday morning, the governors heard from Pedro Noguera, executive director of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education at New York University. Despite mandates enforced by No Child Left Behind, Noguera told the panel, “we are still leaving kids behind.”
The common problem that all failing schools encounter is poverty, Noguera said, and inadequate healthcare, social problems and a lack of support at home impact education.
“These children don’t see education as a way to get out of poverty because it hasn’t worked for their parents,” he said.
But poverty shouldn’t be an impediment because poor-area schools are excelling, Noguera said. “If we put kids in an environment that affirms their dignity and affirms their pride they really can overcome.”
Education is the single best factor in raising the poverty level, Gov. Bill Ritter, D-Colo., said. But the key, Baldacci said, is parental involvement and early education.
“You can teach them how to brush their teeth at school, but if they don’t practice at home it doesn’t do anything,” he said. “Many students don’t have that support in the home and the community to encourage them on, to give them the inspiration and perspiration when it’s necessary.”
One of the major initiatives Baldacci said he hopes to bring home to Maine is universal public preschool, championed by Gov. Brad Henry, D-Okla.
Oklahoma’s Educare is a voluntary, partially state-funded public preschool system. The majority of preschool students in Oklahoma attend.
Maine has a public preschool program, but unlike Oklahoma, whether to implement the program is decided by individual school districts. Almost 2,000 students attended preschool in Maine during the 2004-2005 school year, according to Maine’s Department of Education.
In addition to early education, Baldacci said he will look into Gov. Ritter’s initiative to revamp standardized testing and school curriculum in Colorado to make it more about learning and preparing students for college.
The purpose is “not making it about course titles or seat time, but making it about learning,” said Ritter, “and about proficiency.”
Baldacci is focused on increasing the qualitative of education in Maine.
“Forty percent of the high school graduates … require remedial education,” Baldacci said in an interview. “I remember my professors asking me when I went to college, what did you learn in high school?”
Investing more than $1 billion in education by the end of the year, Baldacci said the school restructuring plan passed into law last year will help improve the quality of education by reducing costs and providing students with more access and opportunities. The restructuring combined town schools into regional schools, reducing the number of school administrative units from about 290 to 80.
The governors also spoke about a federal mandate that will restrict state spending on education. Most of the governors at the panel disagreed with the mandate.
Taking a different perspective, Gov. Baldacci tried to put it in context, “I understand where they’re coming from,” he said, because the states often use creative ways to gain more education money from the federal government, taking advantage of the government’s aid.
The National Governors Association meeting gives governors an opportunity to “learn from each other,” Baldacci said, and to meet with federal government officials to discuss “pressing issues” in their states.
He said it is important if “I can get somebody to move even a half of an inch in these areas that are having a big impact on our state, like Medicare and Real ID. I need to just use this as an opportunity to do some one on one lobbying.”
“I’m having to make cut backs, make some people sacrifice,” he said. “Trying to protect the most vulnerable, it’s gut-wrenching and it’s hard some times for me to sleep when you’ve got these things that you have to do to balance the budget, to tighten the belt. You’ve got to know that a lot of small businesses and working families are struggling and you can’t add to their burden.”
Aside from education, a major focus of this year’s winter meeting was clean energy. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., who is chair of the association, introduced the Securing a Clean Energy Future Initiative that encourages governors to help make their states energy efficient through clean energy technology, research and alternative fuels.
The winter meeting will end on Monday with a send-off reception celebrating the 100th anniversary of the association. On Sunday night the governors and their spouses were scheduled to attend a dinner at the White House. An association meeting in July will take up state strategies for evaluating teachers and their salaries.
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New Law to Help Veterans Maintain Their Small Businesses
Small Business
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
2/15/08
WASHINGTON – President Bush signed into law Thursday a bill sponsored by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, that aims to aid National Guard and reserve veterans who own small businesses.
“As alarming numbers of our Guard members and reservists continue to selflessly answer their nation’s call to duty, we in Congress must similarly fulfill our responsibility to protect their livelihoods back home,” Snowe said.
The new law is intended to augment government spending on veterans and increase their access to procurement and franchising opportunities; increase the number of veteran outreach centers across the country, including specifically for small businesses; streamline and expand the loan program for veterans, including offering loans of up to $50,000; and improve outreach and business training available to women veterans.
Snowe, the senior Republican on the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, sponsored the measure along with committee chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., last year and it was passed earlier this year.
“This new law gives America's veterans and reservists some deserved economic security after they've put their lives on the line for our national security,” said Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, a member of the House Small Business Committee and a supporter of the new law.
The law includes a Michaud-authored provision intended to improve the Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, by increasing the time in which a returning reservist may apply for a loan from 90 days to one year.
“Extending the time our returning reservists have to apply for this loan is crucial. Many reservists are small business owners and they often need more than three months to get their small businesses back up and running,” Michaud said. “An arbitrary deadline shouldn't stand in the way of any returning soldier.”
In Maine, there are 142,205 veterans, according to the Census Bureau.
Reservists who own their own businesses lose 55 percent of their income when they go overseas, said Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., a member of the House Small Business Committee and the sponsor of the House bill. Often soldiers come home to find their businesses in debt because of their absence and they struggle to sustain their companies and their families. Others return to find that their company went belly-up while they were gone.
“Our veterans who put their lives on the line for our national security deserve economic opportunity when they come home,” Kerry said. “This bipartisan achievement is one small way we can repay them for their hard work and sacrifice.”
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Snowe Seeks to Stop Fraudulent Health Insurance Agents
Medicare
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
2/14/2008
WASHINGTON -- The federal government isn’t doing enough to protect Medicare recipients from aggressive and fraudulent marketing strategies by sales agents for Medicare Advantage plans, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday.
“Given the complexities of this program, and the material one must navigate – such as a 110-page Medicare guide – and all the marketing materials seniors are receiving, we must see prompt action to address the problems of these plans,” Snowe said. “One key aspect is the system must become more user-friendly. It is extremely confusing today, and that simply makes beneficiaries more vulnerable to unethical marketing.”
Medicare Advantage plans are privately marketed plans that replace Medicare’s Part A, which is hospital insurance, and Part B, which provides medical insurance. Some Advantage plans also include Part D, which provides prescription drug coverage.
“The story of sales by private Medicare plans is a tale of trust,” committee chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., added. “Seniors justifiably trust Medicare. But there are sales artists who are abusing that trust.”
Victims of the deceptive practices described their experiences for the Finance Committee last week, recalling salespersons misrepresenting themselves as Medicare officials and forging applications to enroll new members without their consent.
“I am hearing that seniors who are perfectly happy with their health coverage are getting a hard sell to change plans each year,” Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said at last week’s hearing. “I am hearing stories about agents visiting the homes of elderly people sick with flu and insisting on enrolling them in a private Medicare plan. I am hearing that health plans are buying beneficiaries lunches and dinners as part of the sales pitch. Some people feel obliged to enroll as a result.”
There are more than 8.9 million enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans nationwide, said Jeff Nelligan, spokesman for the Department for Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. There are almost 4,000 Maine citizens enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.
Consumer complaints, along with a 2006 fraud case, prompted Maine’s legislature to pass a bill last April prohibiting insurance agents from making cold calls, door-to-door sales or engaging in cross marketing.
“We’ve heard anecdotally that these sales practices were occurring,” said Judith Shaw, deputy superintendent of Maine’s Bureau of Insurance. “These prompted us to pass the legislation.”
The 2006 case involved an insurance agent who persuaded a customer to withdraw from his current plan, which included independent prescription drug coverage, and enroll in a new Medicare plan, which did not include the prescription drug benefits. The agent said he did not know that switching plans would cause the customer to lose the independent coverage. The state ruled that the agent demonstrated incompetence and he was forced to take a course in ethics to settle the case.
Humana, a health care insurance company, offers a $10,000 bonus to agents who enroll 150 seniors into private Medicare plans by April, Baucus said at the hearing.
“Plainly, seniors should never trust these shady private Medicare sales artists,” said Baucus, “But we want to maintain seniors’ trust in Medicare.”
The insurance industry has been working with members of Congress since this issue was raised to assure that people are not falling prey to unscrupulous practices and is reacting immediately to any complaints, said Mohit Ghose, spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, a national association representing almost 1,300 insurance companies..
“I think we can all agree that it’s in everyone’s best interest to protect Medicare beneficiaries in the long term,” said Ghose. “While we must address unscrupulous marketing practices, we can’t overlook the fact that more than 9.5 beneficiaries were able to receive better benefits at lower costs because of the Medicare program.”
Ghose said the association hopes members of Congress will hear from their constituents about the importance of these programs.
“We are committed to reporting, monitoring and disciplining agents and brokers,” said Ghose, “along with providing better service at a lower cost to beneficiaries.”
The association made recommendations last year on how to improve the system and are working with Congress, Ghose said.One such recommendation is to require agents to arrange appointments to talk about their companies’ plans instead of making sales pitches over the phone. Many companies have begun to enforce this requirement.
Snowe questioned Kerry Weems, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, regarding the department’s lax oversight of these private Medicare plans and where their subsidy dollars are being used. As federal subsidies directed to the private Medicare plans increased to $50 billion over the last five years, the department’s oversight declined by almost half in the same period, Snowe said.
Nelligan said the center, known as CMS for short, is committed to protecting people with Medicare from potential abuses. This has included penalties against non-compliant plans, a Medicare plan rating and a program designed to monitor the more than 200 marketing events.
“Acting Administrator Weems has made it his top priority for CMS to be more proactive and transparent than ever before in overseeing the Medicare Advantage program and in addition to actions already taken the center is considering additional administrative actions,” Nelligan said.
Snowe offered several suggestions at the hearing, including a post-enrollment “cooling off” period, allowing Medicare participants to give the plan a trial run before being locked in. In addition to avoiding the hassle of a long appeal process to be released from the plan, the “cooling off” period will prevent some private companies from engaging in deceptive practices.
“I know the difficulties seniors have to make in choosing their plans from year to year,” Sen. Snowe said. “It shouldn’t be that complicated – if a beneficiary finds out their coverage isn’t exactly what they wanted, then they should have the opportunity to cancel.”
Snowe also suggests lengthening the enrollment period, which occurs during the Thanksgiving to New Years holiday season, to give seniors more time to decide the right plan for them.
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Collins Questions Role of Military During Potential Domestic Crises
Guard
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
2/13/2008
WASHINGTON – A lack of coordination between National Guard units under state command and regular military units could pose a threat to national response in the case of a domestic crisis, Sen. Susan Collins, R- Maine, said Wednesday.
“There is an appalling gap in our nation’s preparedness for chemical, biological, or nuclear terrorism [that] underscores this committee’s long-standing concern and is a call to action,” said Collins, the senior Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The panel heard testimony from the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, which issued a report in January that questioned the lack or cooperation between the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense and its effect on the National Guard.
In times of domestic crises the governor has the authority to call up the National Guard to help. If more than Guard troops are needed, the president can send other military personnel. This leads to a situation where the Guard is commanded by the governor and the rest of the troops are commanded by the regular military chain of command, causing confusion and a lack of cohesion.
A delayed response during Hurricane Katrina first exposed the lack of coordination, said Collins, who led an investigation after the disaster. The head of the military’s response to Katrina, Adm. Timothy Keating, told congressional investigators that when he was sending military troops to the Gulf he had a limited understanding of where the region’s Guard troops were stationed and what role they were playing.
More than 70,000 troops, 50,000 of which were from the National Guard, were sent to the Gulf Coast, according to members of the commission.
“But to those stranded on their rooftops, or in the Superdome and Convention Center without adequate supplies or sanitation for days, those resources came too slowly,” Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said at Tuesday’s hearing. Lieberman is the committee’s chairman.
To prevent any future mismanagement of domestic crises, members of the commission suggested that the Department of Defense increase its role in homeland security matters and that state governors take charge of both state Guard units and regular military personnel during crises by appointing a “dual-hatted military commander,” as retired Marine Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro, chairman of the commission, called it. This commander would lead a joint federal-state military task force to assure the coordination of both military and Guard troops.
The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing last week on the commission’s 400-page report and questioned the sustainability of the National Guard under its current structure. Last March Punaro said 88 percent of Guard units in the United States were not ready for a major disaster. The situation today is worse, because of the “treadmill of extended and repeated overseas deployments,” Collins said. Prolonged and repeated deployments overseas have worn down the Guard and reserve, they said.
“There’s the idea that if we’re ready for the away game, we’re ready for the home game. I don’t buy that,” said Punaro. “We need our Guard and reserve here in the homeland so we’re the most ready when our country is the least ready.”
Neither Punaro nor Collins advocates removing Guard troops from overseas duties. But, they both said, they want to assure that the Guard is equipped and ready to play the lead role in the time of a national crisis.
Collins and Lieberman said after the hearing that they plan to introduce legislation requiring the Department of Defense to step up its domestic attention of the National Guard and clarifying who would be in charge of the military and Guard troops during a national crisis.
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Born in Maine, Living in Exile: Mainers Convene for Capitol Breakfast
Breakfast
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
2/13/08
WASHINGTON -- In the seaside town of Bar Harbor and along Acadia’s mountain roads, politics is a side note to life, but in Washington, D.C., life is a side note to politics. Mainers exiled to the beltway can escape to the Maine State Society for a touch of home.
“In Maine, the tension that you have down here day to day is gone,” said Wayne Hanson, chairman for the society’s Arlington Cemetery wreath project. “The minute you hit New York your hands start to relax a little bit.”
That relaxed feeling is what Hanson misses most about home and it’s why he has become so involved in the society, which held its annual congressional breakfast on Wednesday.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, made brief remarks at the breakfast before rushing off to a hearing. She updated Mainers on the key pieces of legislation she has helped to pass since the year began, including the economic stimulus package.
Following Collins, Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, emphasized the pivotal role citizens will play in this year’s elections, alluding to his campaign against Collins for her Senate seat.
“You’re a lot more interesting than anything we do here in Congress,” Allen told the members of the society.
Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, also spoke about legislation. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, was not able to attend the breakfast.
A raffle featuring Maine T-shirts, books and totes concluded the morning gathering. One item, a “Born in Maine, Living in Exile” bumper sticker brought laughter from the crowd of “Maineiacs,” as Hanson calls the society members.
With more than 1,100 members, the Maine State Society is one of the largest state societies in Washington. Members credit the size of their society to Mainers’ love for their state.
“There’s an affinity for the state and that includes the congressional members who show up when you ask them to,” said Lew Pearson, the society’s treasurer.
Then of course, there are the lobster dinners.
“You look forward to the little lobster dinners, the touches of Maine that you don’t get every day,” said Hanson, “Anything that’s a reminder of your hometown.”
Megan Winterson, last year’s cherry blossom princess for Maine, recently became a member because of her experiences at the festival.
“After being a cherry blossom princess and going to the state society dinner I just decided I wanted to be more involved because there was such a special Maine feeling at the dinner and I felt proud to be from Maine,” said Winterson.
Eight annual events keep members active and nostalgic for their home state, including this week’s congressional breakfast, a lobster dinner and a harvest festival.
Founded in 1894 by a group of Mainers searching for a touch of home away from home, the Maine State Society’s mission is “to foster and promote interest in Maine, develop and maintain a sense of loyalty and devotion to Maine, and provide for and strengthen the social contacts of its members,” according to its Web site.
More than 100 years later, Democrats and Republicans, Hill staffers and trade workers still join together. All who have a connection to Maine are welcomed to join the nonpolitical, nongovernmental and volunteer-based group.
“You see someone on the side of the road in Maine and you stop. It’s the same here at the society,” said Hanson, “You have a friend from Maine, you have a friend for life.”
Those living far from home can learn how to reunite with fellow Mainers and become a member of the Maine State Society by calling 703-237-1031 or visiting www.mainestatesociety.org
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Senate Expected to Vote Tuesday on Surveillance Bill
FISA update
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
2/8/2008
WASHINGTON – The Senate is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that assisted in illegal surveillance of suspected terrorists when it wraps up voting on the updated intelligence surveillance bill, according to the office of Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.
Snowe, who supports immunity, voted against two amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that were rejected by the Senate Thursday. The 1978 act allows government surveillance of suspected terrorists through electronic surveillance, wire-tapping and other techniques.
The first amendment would have allowed the court established by FISA to prevent the government from using information collected on a U.S. citizen if the procedures for gaining the information were illegal.
Snowe, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, opposed the amendment because it would have restricted access to vast amounts of intelligence information, according to a statement from her office.
“Rather than requiring only that procedures be corrected or collection ceased, this amendment would have prevented actual intelligence from being used,” Snowe said. “I was concerned that these inflexible, additional requirements could have a profound
effect on our ability to gather intelligence critical to protecting our homeland.”
The second amendment would have blocked the government from conducting surveillance on a foreigner if the true intention was to listen to a U.S. citizen on the other end of the communication.
Snowe said she opposed the amendment because “the underlying bill already explicitly states that a person in the United States cannot be targeted for surveillance without a warrant.”
Shifting from tradition, Senate leaders are supported by the White House in their quest to grant immunity to the private companies. The House version of the bill does not grant immunity. After the expected Senate vote on Tuesday the House and Senate will have little time to settle disagreements over the immunity before the current law expires on Saturday.
Some House Democrats have already expressed their support for immunity, including 21 Democrats who sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Jan. 28. The congressmen were all members of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of conservative and moderate Democrats.
Rep. Michael Michaud, D- Maine, is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition but did not sign the letter and is opposed to immunity. “In the end, if any laws were broken someone should be held accountable,” Michaud said.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, also opposes immunity because those who commit illegal acts should not be let off the hook. A trial is the only way there will be a thorough investigation of the administration’s activities, Leahy said.
Leahy supports an amendment proposed by Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., also a member of the committee, that would hold the government, not the private companies, directly responsible. Michaud said he would consider supporting this amendment.
Snowe said subjecting these private companies to lawsuits may endanger the government’s relationship with them in the future and that their cooperation in security and intelligence projects is crucial to the country’s national security.
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Collins Supports National Guard Report Urging Changes to Compensate for Iraq
National Guard
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
2/7/2008
WASHINGTON – With more than 95,000 National Guard and Reservists currently serving overseas, Sen. Susan Collins, R- Maine, says there is a gap in the country’s capability to respond to national disasters or attacks at home.
The Senate Armed Services Committee, of which Collins is a member, heard Thursday from members of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, which issued a report last week calling for better training and support for members of the National Guard and Reserves.
“We have put too much stress on the National Guard and reservists, their families and their employers because of repeated and lengthy deployments overseas,” Collins said in an interview after the hearing. “I’m proud of our National Guard and reservists, but I think we’ve unfairly placed too much stress on them.”
In Maine, there are 210 Army National Guard soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maine has sent more than 2,000 members of the National Guard and Reserves to fight overseas since 9/11, one of the highest percentages of deployment in the United States.
Last March Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro, chairman of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, said 88 percent of Guard units in the United States were not ready for a major disaster. The situation today is worse, he said at Thursday’s hearing.
With their soldiers and funding being drained from overseas fighting, Punaro’s report says, the National Guard and Reserves are due for a change in mission and structure to assure their future sustainability.
The 400-page report offers 95 recommendations to improve the way the National Guard and Reserves are “organized, trained, equipped, compensated and supported.”
Largely disagreeing with Punaro’s report, the Defense Department held a press conference last week defending the capability of the military.
“We want to communicate to our adversaries that we have superb capabilities, the best in the world,” Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, said. “And they will respond heroically and effectively in the event of such a catastrophic event, but not as fast, not as close to perfection as we human beings would like to achieve.”
McHale also said the Punaro report called for the National Guard and Reserves to exclusively protect the home front and not aid in the war against terror. Members of the commission said at Thursday’s hearing that this was not true. The report calls for the National Guard and Reserves to lead in protecting the home front, while also serving to support armed forces overseas.
The report emphasizes the necessity of the National Guard and Reserves as long as there is a volunteer army. But while they play a vital role overseas, the report said, the need for them at home continues to grow.
“Today, the homeland is part of the battlefield, and the federal government must use all elements of national power to protect it,” Maj. Gen. Gordon Stump, a member of the commission, said at the hearing. “Dangers to the homeland include traditional military threats, such as conventional attacks on people and property, and more unorthodox ones, such as terrorist attacks. As a result of these threats to the homeland and the new awareness of the danger, protecting the homeland has become a greater priority for all levels of government.”
Some of the changes the Punaro report suggests include altering the personnel and funding structure and enforcing more realistic training. The report also calls for improvements to the pay scale, health care and retirement system for National Guard and Reserve members to aid in recruitment retention.
The report comes after lawmakers contemplated ways to prepare the nation for a terrorist attack or a natural disaster, like hurricane Katrina.
During Katrina, active-duty soldiers and National Guard troops often did not know what the other was doing, according to Collins, the senior Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Coordinating the two and authorizing one person to control both branches during a crisis would eliminate such confusion, the report said.
“The lack of coordination between our active-duty officers and our National Guard and reservists is a real concern,” Collins said.
The report recommends giving state governors this authority, but Collins and other lawmakers oppose this. Collins said the Department of Defense would be likely to “fiercely oppose” having a governor, not ranking military officers, leading active-duty personnel.
The Department of Defense is evaluating the report and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs will hold a hearing on it next week.
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Snowe Crititcizes Budget Cuts for Medicaid
Medicaid
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
2/6/2008
WASHINGTON – Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, exchanged sharp words with Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt Wednesday over proposed changes to Medicaid rules that would reduce federal Medicaid spending by $1.28 billion over five years, severely hurting state Medicaid programs.
“With Maine and other states facing significant budget deficits, this is the wrong time to impose a regulation that will shift additional financial burdens on states that can’t afford it,” Snowe said at a hearing by the Finance Committee, of which she is a senior member.
The services specifically affected by the proposed changes are case management, which includes funding for special education; rehabilitation services; hospital outpatient services; and transportation for disabled school children. States are required by federal law to provide many of the services that would be affected, including services for young students with disabilities.
Leavitt’s proposed changes would take effect on March 3 unless Congress extends the deadline by a year under legislation Snowe co-sponsored.
Snowe and her colleagues are acting after the National Governors Association sent a letter to the Health and Human Services Department appealing for it to postpone the changes to give states time to respond.
The change “restricts state flexibility to design and manage their programs, and threatens the success of recent reform initiatives,” said Raymond Scheppach, executive director of the association, in the Feb. 4 letter.
States have been using the Medicaid program to fund services that aren't Medicaid services and some states have admitted this, according to Dennis Smith, director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations in the Department of Health and Human Services. Smith said the states were warned.
"The moment is now here and states are scrambling, but it's not really news to the states," said Smith.
Gov. John Baldacci, who emphasizes the effects these changes will have on Maine, says they could cost the state $45 million through the next 16 months.
“They have a tremendous trickle-down effect in our ability to help our most vulnerable citizens,” said David Farmer, spokesman for the governor.
Maine officials are talking with medical providers and school systems, searching for ideas on how to restructure the programs to compensate for the shortfall in federal funds.
“Nearly half of all children in the foster care system have a disability or suffer from a chronic medical problem,” Snowe said at the hearing. “More than 75 percent have serious emotional problems. And right now, Maine is scrambling to figure out how to maintain case management services for them.”
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Maine State Society Offers Scholarships
Scholarships
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
2/4/2008
WASHINGTON – Students who have completed at least one year at a four-year Maine college or university and have a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher are eligible to apply for scholarships offered by the Maine State Society of Washington, D.C. Applications for the scholarships, which are awarded in amounts of at least $1,000, are due April 1.
Serving as a home away from home, the Maine State Society was created in 1894 to bring a touch of Maine to the nation’s capital. More than 100 years later, the society still provides Washington-area residents with a social connection to their home state.
The society, a nonprofit organization, has been providing financial assistance to young Mainers since 1991. More information and applications are available at the society’s Web site, www.mainestatesociety.org.
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Senate to Vote This Week on Economic Stimulus Plan
Stimulus
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
2/2/2008
WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats may scale back on the $157 billion economic stimulus package passed Wednesday by the Finance Committee as they struggle to gain the 60 votes needed to bring the bill to a full Senate vote.
The Senate plan expands on the version passed Tuesday by the House and would provide tax rebates to 21 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans and would send aid to small businesses.
“We have an obligation to utilize the fiscal tools that are at our disposal to take immediate and decisive action that will help us avoid a recession and blunt the effects of the current fiscal downturn,” Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said in a statement. She is a member of the Finance Committee and voted in favor of the plan when it passed the committee by a vote of 14 to 7.
With the U.S. Labor Department reporting 17,000 jobs lost in January after more than four years of growth, the Finance Committee plan includes an extension of unemployment insurance benefits for 13 weeks. In Maine, the construction, manufacturing and mining industries have the highest unemployment rate, with a combined loss of jobs of more than 9 percent in the last year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
“Reflecting national trends, seasonally-adjusted resident employment declined and unemployment rose in Maine between November and December,” Laura Fortman, Maine’s commissioner of labor, said in a press release.
Almost half the nation’s workforce is employed by small businesses, Snowe said, making their inclusion in the stimulus package important.
Snowe, who is the senior Republican on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, supported the provision in the Finance Committee bill that allows companies losing money to apply losses from the past two years to tax returns from profitable years and gain refunds.
“From the onset, I have stressed the role that small businesses will play in our economic recovery,” Snowe said. “I aggressively fought to include them in the stimulus package.”
Veterans and seniors also would gain if the Senate is able to agree to the Finance Committee’s package. Snowe, along with Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., sponsored a provision accepted by the Finance Committee to ensure that service-injured veterans were included in the tax rebate process. In Maine, veterans make up 16 percent of the state’s population, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
By extending the House’s rebate system to include Social Security benefits as a form of qualifying income, seniors will receive rebates under the Senate’s plan as well. Seniors make up about 15 percent of Maine’s population.
Hopes are slim for home heating aid for low-income families to be added to the stimulus plan, something Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has supported. If home heating aid is not included in the stimulus package, Collins will continue to fight for the funding, according to her spokesperson. She and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have already introduced a separate bill to increase assistance by $800 million.
Voting in the Senate on the economic stimulus plan was set for Monday, but is expected to be postponed to Wednesday, as the Democrats shore up support and wait for senators to return from the campaign trail after the Super Tuesday primary.
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