Maine Budget

Maine's cash-strapped state government closed on Friday and more than 10,000 workers stayed home for the first of two one-day shutdowns to save money. Hundreds of prison guards, state police and other essential workers were required to work, although it may be years before they are paid for the day, officials said. The shutdowns are designed to help bridge a $77-million gap in Maine's budget for the fiscal year, which ends June 30. The next shutdown is scheduled for May 24.

After months of calculations and negotiations, the debate over California's delayed $56-billion budget is increasingly turning on the $614-a-month checks that disabled people such as Frank Smith receive. Smith, 44, his 108-pound body contorted by cerebral palsy, receives $614 in monthly disability pay, about $168 of which comes from the California general fund. The rest comes from Uncle Sam.

Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. ordered public employees to report for work today, ending a weeklong partial shutdown of state government that closed most state parks over the holiday weekend. But the state remained without a budget Sunday, going into the second week of a new fiscal year. At a news conference Sunday, Weicker announced he would neither sign nor veto a special continuing resolution to restart state government and keep it running until July 14.

Somewhere in the dark forests, or perhaps out beyond the whitecapped bays, winter waits, growling in the night, and Maine, vulnerable and apprehensive in this season of discontent, is hunkering down. With trees stripped bare of leaves and the smell of wood smoke in the frosty air, the monied summer colony has boarded up its coastal homes and headed south.

Angry state workers rallied Friday outside the capitols of Pennsylvania and Maine, demanding action from political leaders who have plunged state governments into chaos by failing to adopt budgets on time. Budget crises have been especially serious in Connecticut and Maine, whose governors have shut down non-essential state services, and in Pennsylvania, whose state workers were not paid on payday Friday.

Angry state workers in Maine rallied Monday outside the Capitol, demanding paychecks and a state budget, after the governor shut down all non-essential services in a fiscal showdown with the Legislature. Connecticut's governor threatened to follow Maine's example. "We want to be paid! We want a budget!" shouted some of the estimated 200 idled Maine workers, who were held back from the office of Gov. John R. McKernan Jr. by two police officers.

Maine lawmakers approved a tentative budget proposal as negotiators in Augusta went back to work on resolving a dispute over a workers' compensation plan that the governor has linked to the spending package. Approval of the tentative budget plan was a first step toward breaking a partisan impasse that shut down many government agencies last week. Both houses of the Democratic-controlled Legislature approved the measure and sent it to Republican Gov. John R. McKernan Jr.

Georgia joined the trend to stringent cost-cutting measures, as Gov. Zell Miller ordered one-day-a-month furloughs for all state workers and froze new programs. Miller said he will ask legislators to cut the state budget $150 million to $400 million. Meanwhile, in Maine, lawmakers working to avert a second state government shutdown sought to iron out a deal that would curb business insurance costs enough for Gov. John R. McKernan to sign a full budget.

Somewhere in the dark forests, or perhaps out beyond the whitecapped bays, winter waits, growling in the night, and Maine, vulnerable and apprehensive in this season of discontent, is hunkering down. With trees stripped bare of leaves and the smell of wood smoke in the frosty air, the monied summer colony has boarded up its coastal homes and headed south.

Thousands of state workers in Connecticut and Maine reported back to their jobs Monday for the first time in a week, but budget impasses continued in those states and in Pennsylvania, where paychecks have been held up. "I'm a widow. It's hard," said Bernice Spagnolo, who joined 75 other Pennsylvania state employees at a Capitol rally to demand an end to the weeklong budget deadlock. She hoisted a homemade sign that asked: "Who is going to pay my bills?" In Maine, Gov. John R. McKernan Jr.

The Republican minority in the state Senate failed to give up crucial votes necessary to pass a two-year budget and put 10,000 state employees back on the job. A final Senate vote Friday fell three votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed to put the budget into effect immediately, matching a House vote that fell two votes short of the mark and killing the bill.

Georgia joined the trend to stringent cost-cutting measures, as Gov. Zell Miller ordered one-day-a-month furloughs for all state workers and froze new programs. Miller said he will ask legislators to cut the state budget $150 million to $400 million. Meanwhile, in Maine, lawmakers working to avert a second state government shutdown sought to iron out a deal that would curb business insurance costs enough for Gov. John R. McKernan to sign a full budget.

Thousands of state workers in Connecticut and Maine reported back to their jobs Monday for the first time in a week, but budget impasses continued in those states and in Pennsylvania, where paychecks have been held up. "I'm a widow. It's hard," said Bernice Spagnolo, who joined 75 other Pennsylvania state employees at a Capitol rally to demand an end to the weeklong budget deadlock. She hoisted a homemade sign that asked: "Who is going to pay my bills?" In Maine, Gov. John R. McKernan Jr.

Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. ordered public employees to report for work today, ending a weeklong partial shutdown of state government that closed most state parks over the holiday weekend. But the state remained without a budget Sunday, going into the second week of a new fiscal year. At a news conference Sunday, Weicker announced he would neither sign nor veto a special continuing resolution to restart state government and keep it running until July 14.

Maine lawmakers approved a tentative budget proposal as negotiators in Augusta went back to work on resolving a dispute over a workers' compensation plan that the governor has linked to the spending package. Approval of the tentative budget plan was a first step toward breaking a partisan impasse that shut down many government agencies last week. Both houses of the Democratic-controlled Legislature approved the measure and sent it to Republican Gov. John R. McKernan Jr.

Angry state workers rallied Friday outside the capitols of Pennsylvania and Maine, demanding action from political leaders who have plunged state governments into chaos by failing to adopt budgets on time. Budget crises have been especially serious in Connecticut and Maine, whose governors have shut down non-essential state services, and in Pennsylvania, whose state workers were not paid on payday Friday.

The Republican minority in the state Senate failed to give up crucial votes necessary to pass a two-year budget and put 10,000 state employees back on the job. A final Senate vote Friday fell three votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed to put the budget into effect immediately, matching a House vote that fell two votes short of the mark and killing the bill.

After months of calculations and negotiations, the debate over California's delayed $56-billion budget is increasingly turning on the $614-a-month checks that disabled people such as Frank Smith receive. Smith, 44, his 108-pound body contorted by cerebral palsy, receives $614 in monthly disability pay, about $168 of which comes from the California general fund. The rest comes from Uncle Sam.

Angry state workers in Maine rallied Monday outside the Capitol, demanding paychecks and a state budget, after the governor shut down all non-essential services in a fiscal showdown with the Legislature. Connecticut's governor threatened to follow Maine's example. "We want to be paid! We want a budget!" shouted some of the estimated 200 idled Maine workers, who were held back from the office of Gov. John R. McKernan Jr. by two police officers.

Maine's cash-strapped state government closed on Friday and more than 10,000 workers stayed home for the first of two one-day shutdowns to save money. Hundreds of prison guards, state police and other essential workers were required to work, although it may be years before they are paid for the day, officials said. The shutdowns are designed to help bridge a $77-million gap in Maine's budget for the fiscal year, which ends June 30. The next shutdown is scheduled for May 24.