Amended LePage budget would end state funding for county jails
AUGUSTA — LePage administration proposals to eliminate state funding for county jails next year and to hold the line on compensation for court-appointed attorneys received a chilly reception from Democratic budget writers Friday.
Gov. Paul LePage made the proposals as part of a nearly 200-page budget “change package” that may – or may not – become part of lawmakers’ deliberations as they try to finalize a new two-year budget.
Among the additional budget requests or proposals from the governor’s office:
• $2 million to cover legal bills when Attorney General Janet Mills, a Democrat, declines to represent the administration.
• The elimination of $16 million in state funding for county jails beginning in March 2018.
• A nine-month funding extension for the Downeast Correctional Facility in Machiasport, which LePage had planned to close on June 10.
• The elimination of $556,000 for a civil rights program in the Attorney General’s Office for school-age students. Created by the Legislature two decades ago, the program works with civil rights teams in elementary, middle and high schools that identify and address bias in schools.
Read more: http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/05/26/amended-lepage-budget-would-end-state-jail-funding/