A midterm result in New England has raised fresh questions about what a small state can still expect from Washington.
As reported by The Gateway Pundit, citing a WGME account, some Mainers are expressing concerns about the future of federal funding as Sen. Susan Collinss final term nears its end. Collins, who lost her bid for a sixth term to Democrat Troy Jackson, currently chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, but her term ends in about two months.
The local report said that during her time in that position, Collins has helped secure hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for Maine, including money for the states aging fire departments. The report described her as a cash machine for a largely poor state, even as it said she may not have been a reliable vote for conservatives.
University of Maine political science professor and department chair Mark Brewer said it is too early to know how Collinss departure will affect federal funding. He expects Jackson to secure less federal money than Collins did, although he said it is impossible to determine how significant the difference could be.
Its highly unlikely that Maine will have the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee in its delegation. I think thats probably relatively safe, Brewer said. I think its also safe to say that Senator Jackson will not have 29 years of seniority in the United States Senate, right? We know that. Beyond that, I dont know that we can say too much.
Even if Collins had won reelection, she would not have remained chair of the Appropriations Committee, because Republicans lost control of the Senate. With the Senate majority leader position still undecided, committee assignments for newly elected senators also remain uncertain.
Brewer said Maines other senator, independent Angus King, could gain influence as Democrats take control of the chamber. Its really kind of premature to be able to say much of anything about what the federal dollars coming into Maine are going to look like next year, he said.
And then we also have to take into account that, you know, Senator King will be moving up the seniority list, right, and who knows what that will mean for his ability to bring federal funding into the state, Brewer said. He caucuses, hes an independent, but he caucuses with the Democrats. Democrats are going to be in charge of the chamber. Maybe that increases his ability to bring federal dollars in.
Meanwhile, Senator-elect Troy Jackson and other newly elected Democrats met with current Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Schumer, a New York Democrat, is seeking to become majority leader again, but faces opposition from some progressive Democrats calling for new leadership, and Jackson has publicly said he does not plan to support that bid.
The report argued that the time to weigh all of this was before the election. It closed with an old New England saying, used when someone finally grasps what had been obvious to everyone else: Light dawns on Marblehead.
The Appropriations gavel was going to leave her hands whether or not Maine voters sent her back. What remains unsettled is how much seniority, Kings rising standing in a Democratic-led Senate, and a freshman members limited clout will matter for the federal dollars that actually reach the state.
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