Welcome to the Catholic Public Affairs Action page where you will find updated information on critical legislative matters under review at the State House, in Congress, or in municipalities. More importantly, this site will give you the opportunity to speak out and express your concerns to your representative through interactive links. The site will be updated whenever the situation so warrants so please check back often.

Thank you for visiting our site and for your interest in learning more and speaking out on issues of concern to all citizens of Maine.

ACTION ALERT!!

GOVERNOR PROPOSES DEEP CUTS TO SOCIAL WELFARE SAFETY NET PROGRAMS

The governor released proposals in a 2012-2013 supplemental budget targeting the Department of Health and Human Services that would decimate programs and services across the state. I have attached a summary of many of these proposals (the summary is long because there are so many proposed cuts). We have faced alarming budget cut proposals many times in the past but these are truly of unprecedented proportion and will have dire consequences for thousands of Maine people in need.

I spoke with Steve Letourneau, Catholic Charities Maine CEO, this morning and he reports that CCME’s initial assessment is that: cuts to the child care voucher program would affect the majority of families who utilize the child-care program in Portland and Biddeford. St. Francis Recovery Program will have to close, and there will be cuts to Medicaid funding for adults who use the Jessie Albert Dental Center. More negative impact may well surface as their analysis continues.

The diocese will lobby the Appropriations Committee aggressively for alternative resolution to the shortfalls in the DHHS budget. The committee meets next week to review the recommendations. The more people who speak out in opposition to the cuts the more likely that they will be overturned.

. Marc R. Mutty
Public Affairs Director

Click here to view the list of potential cuts.

ACTION ALERT!!

A STATEMENT OF CONSCIENCE ON PROPOSED CUTS TO PUBLIC BENEFITS PROGRAMS

Send Governor LePage a message asking him to prioritize Maine’s poorest citizens

"Justice in health care should be a priority of governments and international institutions.”
— Pope Benedict XVI

In the next few days, it is expected that the Governor’s office will release a set of proposed cuts to programs such as Mainecare that will mean tens of thousands of Mainers may lose health coverage. There may be other proposed cuts to public benefits programs as well.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, in coalition with The Maine Council of Churches and others will be in Augusta to voice our shared objection to cutting programs that are so critical to low-income Mainers, including many working individuals and families. Those of us in faith communities know from direct experience that many more of our neighbors in Maine are facing deepening challenges to keep warm this winter, to put food on the table and to keep sheltered and healthy.

Please read and sign-on to the Statement of Conscience on Proposed Cuts to Public Benefits Programs below. We are trying to collect as many signatures as possible, of clergy and other religious leaders, and people of all faiths, by next Tuesday, December 13, 2011 . This statement will be presented as testimony to the Joint Committee on Appropriations at its hearings on the proposed cuts on December 14th and 15th.

Excerpt from the Statement:

Long ago, the prophet Isaiah spoke the word of the LORD, saying, “is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice. . . Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly . . . .” Isaiah 58:6-8.

As people of faith, we believe that since we are called by ancient Scripture, tradition and faith to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to welcome the “alien and the stranger in our midst,” then we must treat all our neighbors as members of our own family -- “our own kin.”

Click on the attached link to see the statement in its entirety and sign on:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V2TV65K

Plans are also afoot to conduct a “prayer vigil for a moral budget” at the Capitol Building. Stay tuned — we hope you can join us, for a half-hour or a day and help us to re-iterate the message that “the fundamental measure of any economy is how the most vulnerable are faring.”

Sign today to add your name to this statement and forward to others you believe will be willing to add their voice to this important message.

For more information, contact Marc R. Mutty at marc.mutty@portlanddiocese.org