Legislature's Education Committee objects to cutting Doctors for Maine's Future scholarships
A recommendation by the Maine Legislature's Education Committee on Jan. 27, 2011 not to cut the Doctors for Maine's Future scholarship program was covered by the , Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. Gov. Paul LePage's supplemental budget - designed to balance state spending through June 30 - proposed cutting $125,000 that funds the program.
"I do wholeheartedly believe in this program," said Sen. Brian Langley, R-Ellsworth, the committee's Senate chairman. "Pulling the rug out from this program sends a bad message, that you can't trust anything that gets started." The program is designed to make medical school more affordable for Maine students, and to encourage new primary care doctors to practice in rural parts of the state. Twelve UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine students have received support from the program during the past two years, and several of those students attended a hearing on the program and met with Gov. LePage on Jan. 24 in support of the program.