Miss Elleny

The budget passed the House late last night (early this morning) by an overwhelming vote. The timeline was elongated, the "penalties" were made less onerous (but still prohibitive), and the savings ($36.5 million) were booked. It's not really that any money will necessarily be saved; rather, the State will spend that much less -- so they say -- by sending that much less out to the districts. We'll see. Now on to the Senate!

Senator John Martin has raised an issue of tax dollars being used -- by various opponents of consolidation -- to lobby against this measure. He lumps Maine Municipal Association, Maine School Management Association, and the Maine Education Association together in this. He has a point.

But this will blow up on him if it's discovered that tax dollars were used by some other entity to lobby for it.

And it is more than ironic that the taxpayer's money is regularly used by various state agencies to "do what's best for the taxpayers," if only they knew!