“I am very excited to make this announcement,” stated City Manager Rees. “After a rigorous and competitive search, I am confident that we have found the right person for the position. Mike’s commitment to public service, the police department and the community is unparalleled. He knows and loves this city, and the community will be well served by the Police Department being under his leadership.”

Sauschuck has been with the Portland Police Department for fifteen years. After graduating from high school, Sauschuck joined the Marines where he was sent to Camp Pendleton, San Mateo, California. During his five year tenure, he served as a Corporal then Sergeant within the Marine Security Guard in San Salvador, El Salvador and Moscow, Russia. After four years as a reserve police officer with the Old Orchard Beach Police Department, Sauschuck joined the Portland Police Department where he worked in a variety of specialties including the crisis intervention team, special reaction team and as a field training officer. In March 2011, Sauschuck was selected as the department’s Assistant Chief, where he served as Chief James Craig’s second in command and directly oversaw criminal investigations, uniformed operations and emergency communications.

Upon Chief Craig’s departure in August, Sauschuck led the Police Department as Acting Police Chief during which he oversaw a department of more than two hundred employees and an annual budget of $13.4 million. Over the past five months, Sauschuck has worked both internally to advance progressive policies designed to help the department respond to the needs of the city as well as externally to build open and trusting relationships with various community groups and leaders.

“I am incredibly honored to have been selected to serve as the City of Portland’s Police Chief,” stated Sauschuck. “For fifteen years, I have had the privilege to work with an outstanding Police Department and I am very excited to have the opportunity to not only build upon our prior successes but further expand upon and create programs that will improve the safety and quality of life for the people of Portland.”

Over the past decade, Sauschuck has received a number of awards for his commitment to the department and the community including the Sgt. Michael J. Wallace Award, the Enrique Camarena Memorial Award from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Heroes with a Heart Award. Sauschuck earned his Bachelors of Arts in Criminology from the University of Maine in 1998 and completed a Command Training Series for police executives at Rogers Williams University in 2010. He is married to fellow Portland Police Detective, Mary Sauschuck.

“I congratulate both Chief Sauschuck and City Manager Rees on the outcome of this search,” stated City of Portland Mayor Michael Brennan. “Portland will undoubtedly benefit from Mike’s leadership. He understands the city and has built trusting and open relationships not just with his fellow officers and City Hall but with the community as a whole.”

Today’s announcement marks the end of a five-month search for a new Police Chief. A nationwide search effort was initiated last fall. More than eighty candidates applied for the position and after an initial vetting process, five candidates were invited for a round of interviews with two panels comprised of city staff, union representatives, Police Department staff, members of community organizations and local business leaders. Following the interviews, the candidates participated in a day-long assessment organized by Massachusetts company, Badgequest. The Assessment included a variety of exercises designed to test and assess the candidates ability to lead the city’s Police Department. Select candidates were then invited back to the city for a final interview with City Manager Rees, during which, Rees selected Sauschuck for the top post.

The state’s fiscal year begins in July giving lawmakers three months to work out the issue. LePage went on to tell legislators that their failure to cut $221 million from the budget will force him seek cuts to state education to close the gap.

“I will be calling you back and asking you to give the GPA money so that I don’t have to close nursing homes and we will probably close schools, ” he said. “Or by Feb. 1st, you give me curtailment orders so I can start saving money. This is not normal politics, this not rhetoric.”

But this issue would not be able to be classified under a curtailment order.

A curtailment gives executive power to limit spending only when revenues fall short, not when a program outspends its authorized limits.

“This is a program spending issue and wouldn’t fall under the statutory curtailment authority,” said Grant Pennoyer, director of the nonpartisan Office of Fiscal and Program Review to the Bangor Daily News.

The encounter with Gov. LePage in the committee happened after Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew responded to a Medicaid waiver question. LePage had unexpectedly shown up to listen and fidgeted in his chair. Sen. Richard Rosen invited the governor to the speaker’s table where LePage tried to bully lawmakers.

Previously Democratic Appropriations Committee members had asked the director of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) whether the administration’s plans to ask for a waiver from the Affordable Care Act were likely to be granted. CMS Director Cindy Mann replied that to date no state’s request for a waiver of the law has been approved. Which represents $37 million of the $220 million in cuts the administration is proposing. Democrats are worried that the proposed budget may be $257 million because the state has no guarantee they will get the waiver.

Rep. Peggy Rotundo,who serves on the Appropriations Committee, said a letter she received from a federal official this week makes it clear that Maine won’t qualify for waivers to make the cuts.States can get waivers to reduce services only for experimental, pilot or demonstration projects.

“Were not talking about a pilot project. We’re not talking about a demonstration,” said Rep. Rotundo.

However, LePage said he could convince U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Director Kathleen Sebelius on the merits of Maine’s plan.

“So I just urge you all to really get this done because I need to get to Washington and try to sit with the secretary and convince her,” said LePage.

With fifty states, with separate needs what Sebelius does in one effects them all. If the secretary grants Maine’s request other states may wish to follow. Federal waivers are complex and never should be viewed as a sure deal like LePage’s proposed supplemental budget treats them.

“Maine students can’t afford for this bill to be delayed any longer,” said Rep. Terry Morrison, who sponsored the bill and has strongly advocated for it after hearing from hundreds of students and parents in his district. “While this measure gets held up by unnecessary political wrangling, students in schools across our state are being threatened and bullied by their peers.”

The bill requires each school administrative unit to adopt a policy to address bullying, which must include an emphasis on consequences that include alternative discipline. It will also specify responsibilities for reporting incidents of bullying and for implementing and enforcing the law and policies adopted by a school board.

“I’ve heard from students across the state about their personal stories, including one student who recounted a bullying incident where his peers sicked a dog on him after a school event,” said Morrison. “We must pass this bill right away to put an end to these kinds of tragedies. We can’t pretend this isn’t happening regularly in our schools.”

In 2010, there were at least 14 suicides resulting from bullying nationally. The National Education Association estimates that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students.

71 percent of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their school, and 56 percent of students have personally witnessed some type of bullying at school.

The committee is expected to vote on the bill tomorrow.

“I submitted this bill and proposed amendments because it is a tragedy that children go missing every day and we should be doing everything we can to try and find them,” said Rep. Blodgett. “I was contacted by over 100 constituents who shared my concerns and asked me to submit a bill.”

The bill is modeled after similar legislation in other states. In many states the legislation was prompted by recent cases involving missing children that went unreported, most famously the case of Caylee Anthony in Florida.

This bill, as amended, proposes to make it a Class-D crime to fail to report a child under the age of 13 who has gone missing within 48 hours. Under current law there is no penalty for failing to report a child missing. The bill also makes it a Class-D crime to fail to cooperate with an investigation into the death of a child.

The Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will debate the bill further in the next few weeks. A work session on the bill has not yet been scheduled.

This winter the Keep ME Warm initiative aims to buy 100 gallons of fuel for 1,000 Maine families, to keep vulnerable residents healthy, safe and secure this winter. The funds will supplement emergency fuel programs. To fulfill that goal the initiative needs to raise $350,000 to offset cuts to the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, (LIHEAP).

“It is no secret that the current economic challenges in Maine and the country are causing many to have to make difficult choices,” said Lisa Laflin, chairwoman of the United Ways of Maine.

Those challenges mean without help some Maine residents will have to choose between food, rent, prescriptions or heating their homes. In frank terms, people’s lives are at risk and help is needed.

“It’s imperative we join together and do what we can to avoid a crisis,” said Laflin.

You can contribute online at www.keepmewarm.org or www.mainecommunityaction.org By mail to: Keep ME Warm Fund, C/O Unity Way of Greater Portland, P.O. Box 15200, Portland, ME 04112.

Launched in 2004 by the Baldacci administration the Keep ME Warm program now continues to work with a collaboration of the 10 United Ways in Maine and the 10 Community Action Programs, with the aim to help those who may not be eligible for limited federal, state or local fuel assistance programs keep their homes heated for the winter.

In the past weatherization help was available along with financial assistance. MaineHousing continues to help with these ongoing efforts.

LIHEAP applications are up about 5 percent in Maine this year. But changes to federal eligibility standards mean some people who qualified for heating assistance last year would be left out in the cold this year.

MaineHousing estimates that the average heating benefit will fall from $802 last winter to $483 this winter.

Contributions to the Keep ME Warm fund are tax deductible. A $350 donation would provide a family with an emergency fuel delivery of 100 gallons. Any amount is appreciated and needed.

Maine’s congressional delegation continues to lobby the federal government to increase Maine’s LIHEAP allotment.

“We are joining this lawsuit as a “friend of the court” because we know thousands of Maine people will benefit from the new health law,” said Rep. Treat, who is the ranking House Democrat on the Legislature’s Insurance and Financial Services Committee. “If you or a family member recently received preventive care such as a mammogram or colonoscopy or immunization, and weren’t charged any copay and didn’t have to meet a deductible, then you have already benefited from the Affordable Care Act, which required insurance companies to cover many preventive services without out-of-pocket cost to the patient. That’s just one of the many benefits of the law, including banning discrimination against women and people who are sick, cutting the cost of Medicare prescription drugs, and limiting how much of consumers’ payments to insurers go to profit and administration.”

The announcement comes as judges across the ideological spectrum have already upheld the Affordable Care Act as constitutional – including judges appointed by Presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan – and as the Supreme Court is set to consider the constitutionality of the health law in the coming weeks.

Treat added, “We look forward to 2014 when insurance will be more affordable and easier to purchase through the state-based health exchange marketplace, which the law creates. I don’t understand why we would want to reject millions of dollars in tax credits for hard working Maine people so that they can purchase health insurance, nor why we would reject the insurance marketplace that small businesses and individuals will be able to use to compare policies and shop for affordable coverage.”
The LePage Administration joined the lawsuit opposing the health care law but has accepted $36 million in federal grants to carry out its provisions, including funding for revamped computer systems at the Department of Health and Human Services, funding to advance initiatives promoting preventive care and public health, and funding for community health centers. Nearly $6 million of these grants is designated for creating the insurance exchange marketplace where Mainers will be able to shop for insurance and receive tax credits to help pay the premiums.

The brief was organized as part of a larger national effort by the Working Group of State Legislators for Health Reform, a group of state legislators focused on advancing health reform at the state level, and the Progressive States Network to show support for the health care law.

The full text of the Amicus Brief is available at: http://www.progressivestates.org/ACAamicus.

Fact Sheet on the Affordable Care Act:
· Over one million young adults have gained health insurance thanks to the new rule that enables young adults up to age 26 to be covered through a parent’s private health insurance plan.

· Last year, 4 million seniors got a $250 rebate check to help with the cost of their prescription drugs.

· This year, seniors who hit the donut hole receive a 50% discount on brand-name drugs. Nearly 2.65 million seniors have already received the discount and saved an average of $569 for a total of $1.5 billion in savings.

· More than 24.2 million seniors have already received one or more free preventive services, including the new Annual Wellness Visit.

· Medicare prescription drug premiums have remained stable for three years, and Medicare Advantage premiums will be 4 percent lower in 2012 than in 2011.

· Medicare Part B premiums in 2012 will be lower than previously projected and the Part B deductible will decrease by $22. While the Medicare Trustees predicted monthly premiums would be $106.60, premiums will instead be $99.90.

· The Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) offers $5 billion in reinsurance payments to employers so they can more easily give benefits to their retired workers who are not eligible for Medicare. Already, more 6,660 employers have been approved to receive help paying for their health care costs through this program at least 4.5 million early retirees, workers, and families.

Insurance companies can no longer:
o Deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.
o Drop your coverage because you got sick and made a mistake on your application. Nearly 16 million Americans who purchase insurance in the individual market will no longer be at risk of losing their insurance.
o Limit the amount of coverage you can receive in a lifetime. Up to 20,400 people who typically hit their lifetime limits, along with nearly 102 million enrollees in plans with lifetime limits, can live with the security of knowing that their coverage will be there when they need it the most.

The Affordable Care Act is already reducing costs. Here’s how:
· By holding insurance companies accountable for how they spend your premium dollars. In 2011, if they don’t spend at least 80 percent of your premium dollar on medical care rather than advertising, overhead and bonuses for executives, they will have to provide you a rebate for those excessive profits. We expect the first rebates to be made in the summer of 2012.
· By preventing for the first time ever insurance companies from raising rates with no accountability or transparency. Starting September 1, 2011, in every State and for the first time ever, insurance companies are required to publicly justify their actions if they want to raise rates by more than 10 percent. These efforts are paying off in States already reviewing rates:
· Oregon forced an insurer, Regence, to lower its request for a rate hike by nearly 10 percent for 60,000 enrollees after public hearings and scrutiny.
· Connecticut’s Insurance Department rejected a 20 percent rate hike by Anthem.
· North Carolina saved beneficiaries $14.5 million by reducing a rate increase request from the State’s Blue Cross Blue Shield plan.
· And, Aetna scrapped a proposed 19 percent rate increase in California after a close review found math errors that undermined the need for the hike.

When the law is fully implemented in 2014, it will help drive costs down for everyone. An HHS analysis found that compared to what they would have paid without the law:

· Middle-class families buying private insurance in the new State-based Affordable Insurance Exchanges could save as much as $2,300 per year in 2014 thanks to more competition and less paperwork and hassle. Lower-income families (e.g., $33,525 for a family of four) could save a total of $14,900 per year thanks to lower premiums and new tax credits.

· In 2014, small businesses, on average, could save up to $350 per family policy and may be eligible for tax credits of up to 50 percent of their share of the cost of premiums.

· All businesses will likely see lower premiums of $2,000 per family by 2019, which could generate millions of dollars in savings due to less cost shifting and lower costs.

· By 2019, with slower cost growth, the Affordable Care Act could save $2,000 per family.

· Because of investments from the Recovery Act and the Affordable Care Act, the number of clinicians who practice in underserved communities through the National Health Service Corps has nearly tripled over the past three years, reaching than 10,000.

o In 2008, approximately 3.7 million patients were provided service by 3,600 National Health Service Corps providers. Now in 2011, with field strength of more than 10,000 clinicians, the National Health Service Corps provides health care services to about 10.5 million patients.

· Community Health Centers improve the health of the nation and assure access to quality primary health care services at more than 8,000 service delivery sites around the country. Thanks in part to support from the Affordable Care Act:

o Since the beginning of 2009 health centers across the country have added more than 18,600 new full-time positions in many of the nation’s most economically distressed communities.

o In 2010, they employed more than 131,000 staff, including veterans who serve as Physician Assistants, Administrators, Pharmacy Directors, outreach workers,eligibility assistance workers, and patient support staff and health center CEOs. Veterans who are committed to serving their country and their communities are well suited to serve in a number of capacities at community health centers.

o In October 2011, the Obama Administration challenged Community Health Centers to hire 8,000 veterans – approximately one veteran per health center site – over the next three years

For more information about how the Affordable Care Act closes the donut hole over time, go to: http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/11493.pdf . For State-by-State information on the number of people who are benefiting from discounts in the donut hole in 2011, go to https://www.cms.gov/Plan-Payment/. For State-by-State information on utilization of free preventive services and the Annual Wellness Visit, go to http://www.cms.gov/NewMedia/02_preventive.asp

“When the President proposes a massive budget cut for LIHEAP it gives congressional leaders an incentive to do the same,” said Michaud. “We need the President to show that he’s listening to the thousands of Mainers hurt by this funding cut by requesting full funding for LIHEAP. Not doing so threatens the health and safety of Mainers struggling to keep warm and make ends meet during cold winter months.”

In November, Michaud sent a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees urging them to restore funding to LIHEAP, sharing a few of the many stories he received from Mainers by email and through his Facebook page detailing how important the program is to them.

The full text of the letter Michaud sent to President Obama today can be found below.

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Obama:

As you prepare your FY2013 Budget, I urge you to include at least $5.1 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). We must ensure that struggling families have the assistance necessary to heat their homes.

Last year, you proposed a total of $2.57 billion for LIHEAP, a severe reduction from the amount allocated to the program in the previous three fiscal years. While Congress ultimately provided some additional support, the final funding level for this winter is still significantly lower than it was in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Maine alone faces a shortfall of more than $10 million. As a result, individuals and families that have depended on the program are worried that they will not have the resources needed to get through the winter.

I have received countless e-mails, phone calls, and Facebook messages from Mainers concerned about their friends, families, and loved ones. They worry that Washington does not understand that these cuts have real world impacts. Families that have depended on the program in the past may no longer qualify for assistance. Households that have seen their savings wiped out by the recession might not have an important safety net.

I know that we need to be prepared to make tough choices to balance our federal budget and reduce the deficit. However, LIHEAP is not a wasteful government program that benefits only a narrow set of special interests or corporations that do not need the assistance. It provides badly needed protection to the most vulnerable Americans to ensure that they do not have to choose between buying food, paying for their medicine, and heating their homes.

It is essential that we avoid making the same mistake again. I am hopeful that you still set an example by requesting no less than $5.1 billion for LIHEAP in your FY2013 Budget.

Sincerely,

Michael H. Michaud
Member of Congress