Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) approved a series of financial orders between May 13 and 14 to keep payrolls and other government programs funded through the end of the fiscal year on June 30 in the face of an impending budget deficit.
[RELATED: Mills Approves Financial Orders to Address Payroll Shortfalls, Fund State Programs…]
In the two-day period, Gov. Mills approved 60 financial orders, surpassing last month’s flurry of 40 orders, approved for many of the same reasons as the most recent batch.
Last week’s orders also focused primarily on meeting payroll needs, largely due to unbudgeted collective bargaining agreements that have led to payroll shortfalls across departments.
One order, signed by Attorney General Aaron Frey and approved by Mills, transfers $450,000 to meet payroll needs through June 30. Each order comes with a warning that if it is not approved by the governor, the relevant department will be unable to meet its obligations, either in payroll or other essential services.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) Office of Children and Family (OCF) required a staggering transfer of $5,534,761 from one order to meet its payroll obligations, and $908,342 in another financial order for the same reason.
The payroll problems ranged across the state’s large departments, such as the Attorney General’s Office, the DHHS, and the Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry (ACF). The state also needed financial orders to solve problems for smaller agencies. Mills approved one order moving $50,485 into the Baxter State Park Authority’s Personal Service and All Other line categories to meet payroll obligations.
Payroll was not the only funding need that failed under the Mills Administration. The Maine Department of Education (MDOE) required a massive $2.6 million funding transfer in order to maintain breakfast and lunch programs for schoolchildren.
The financial orders meet their obligations through the use of grants, surplus accounts, and unencumbered balance forwards to avoid massive, un-budgeted spending increases.
All of the reallocated funds will keep the state agencies operating only through the end of June.
