Maine: Mike Allen

AUGUSTA, Maine — Members of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee got bad news Tuesday as the state Economic Forecasting Commission reported the recession will further reduce state revenues over the next two years, but the revised estimates won’t be available until May 1.

“We know we will have less revenue than when we started work on the budget,” said Rep. Emily Cain, D-Orono, co-chair of the committee. “We are going to have to take the mind-set that we will have less money, and we need to do things that will structurally change government to lower costs.”

University of Southern Maine economics professor Charles Colgan, chairman of the forecasting group, said the state would continue to have a net loss of jobs over the next two years.