Survivors, advocates and legal-aid groups press committees for permanent funding
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Summary
During the public-comment period advocates and survivors urged lawmakers to make recent one‑time funding for sexual‑assault advocates permanent, sustain civil legal services funding, include OCME staff in a special retirement plan, and protect public‑defense progress, stressing workforce retention and service continuity.
A long public-comment block brought dozens of witnesses to the microphone with repeated appeals for ongoing funding across several human-services and justice items.
Arianne Clements of a Midcoast sexual‑assault support center urged lawmakers to move temporary advocate wage increases into the baseline budget, saying the one‑time funding dramatically reduced turnover and improved continuity of care. "This funding is working," she told the committee, adding that advocates and children's‑advocacy‑center staff require ongoing support to stabilize services.
Representatives of the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the Maine Prosecutors Association echoed that request, saying retention of trained advocates directly affects prosecution and victim safety. Several survivors gave personal testimony about services that enabled them to rebuild their lives.
Multiple witnesses asked the committees to sustain the Maine Civil Legal Services Fund at $3.0 million in the supplemental to avoid a projected cut that would remove legal representation for thousands of vulnerable Mainers. Judges and legal‑aid clinics described the program's role in preventing homelessness and helping domestic‑violence survivors secure protection orders.
Workers at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner asked that OCME employees be included in Maine's 1998 Special Retirement Plan, arguing the traumatic nature of their work and comparability with other public-safety personnel.
Speakers across groups asked the committee to preserve PDS funding that reduced the uncounseled list and to support the supplemental package overall so recently captured progress is not reversed.
The committee accepted the testimony and indicated many of the requests would be considered during work sessions and budget negotiations.