Augusta, Maine — In the Republican primary, Bobby Charles repeatedly told Mainers that he plans to cut the state budget by $4 billion – an outlandish proposal that got slammed by other Republicans, who said it would effectively crash Maine’s economy.
When asked by Maine Newsroom about what he’d cut to get there and if it would amount to $4 billion, Charles said (40:30) “we don’t know.”
Bobby Charles: The budget is open. I’ve studied it. It’s 800 pages. I’ve studied it. I’ve studied it closely. I believe we can cut waste, fraud and abuse out of that budget. That is substantial.
Ian Koski: Surely not four billion dollars. One third of the budget?
Bobby Charles: We don’t know.
Statement from Maine Democratic Party Spokesperson Lauryn Fanguen:
“Bobby Charles wants to cut the state budget by one third but refuses to say what critical programs that Mainers rely on – from law enforcement to roads to education to MaineCare – would be on the chopping block. There is no reality to his reckless approach, and even if there were, the proposal would hurt business, kill jobs, and crash Maine’s economy.”
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