EPIC is currently open for student certifications for the 2011-2012 academic year. Higher education institutions will be able to request payments for all FAME programs available on the EPIC web site portal on Thursday, September 8, 2011. The FAME programs include the State of Maine Grant Program, Educators for Maine, and the GEAR UP Scholarship Program. Institutions that participate in the Tuition Waiver Program may also certify students attending their institution and can indicate the waiver amount.

This summer FAME achieved an important milestone in helping families prepare for college costs.  In partnership with the Alfond Scholarship Foundation (ASF), FAME has enrolled over 10,000 Maine babies in the Harold Alfond College Challenge (HACC). ASF has contributed more than $5 million to Maine resident babies' NextGen College Investing Plan® accounts.  We are so pleased to report that 25% of those new account owners are continuing to make contributions to their accounts!

FAME was recently notified by the U.S. Department of Education that Maine has been awarded a $1.5 million College Access Challenge Grant for Fiscal Year 2012.  During the 2010-2011 academic year, more than 30,000 Maine students and families were assisted by FAME staff.  Please see our press release.

Summer is a busy time for the College Access department at FAME.  Here are some of the things we have been working on:

• The Postsecondary Guide of Maine has been printed and is being mailed this week. You can expect to receive your copies within the next week.
• The Financial Aid Tool Kit is at the printer and we expect it to be distributed in mid-September.  This year we are mailing a copy to the homes of all high school seniors, and a small supply will be sent to the Guidance Office at each high school.  A small supply is also being sent to each college.  If you need additional copies of any FAME publications, you can order them online.
• Financial Aid 101, FAME's annual training for counselors and advisors, has been scheduled for Friday, October 7 at the Augusta Civic Center.  We are extremely pleased to announce that Greg Darnieder will be our keynote speaker at the event.  Mr. Darnieder is the senior advisor to the Secretary of Education on the College Access Initiative. 
• FAME's Wednesday Webinar series will start again in September.  They are held on the second Wednesday of the month at 10:00 a.m.  Look for registration information soon!

Budget

Gov. LePage has formed a bipartisan task force to identify at least $25 million in government savings to bring the state budget into line for the next fiscal year. The twelve-member panel will analyze state departments and agencies with the aim of prioritizing services, consolidating functions and eliminating duplication and inefficiencies. The Governor recently announced that he wants the panel to find additional savings totaling $100 million in view of the deficit-reduction plan recently approved by Congress. The plan is expected to result in fewer federal dollars for Maine.

The task force will make its recommendations by December 15 for saving that much money, with the Legislature having the final say. The task force includes Finance Commissioner Sawin Millett, the chairman, and four lawmakers who serve on the Legislature's Appropriations Committee: Sen. Richard Rosen and Rep. Dennis Keschl, both Republicans, and Sen. Dawn Hill and Rep. John Martin, who are Democrats. The other seven members include: former State Sen. Phil Harriman; former DAFS Commissioner Ryan Low; George Kerr, a former Democratic lawmaker; Joe Bruno, a former Republican legislator and the current president of Community Pharmacies; Sue Charron, Lewiston's director of social services; former Central Maine Power Co. CEO David Flanagan; and David Winslow of the Maine Hospital Association.

Senate vacancy

State Sen. David Trahan (R-Waldo) will resign from the Legislature's Committee on Inland Fish and Wildlife immediately and give up his Senate seat by the end of this year so he can serve as executive director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine. Trahan wants to keep his Senate seat until December so he can continue to work on the Taxation Committee. Trahan is Senate chair of the committee, which has been authorized to meet this summer and fall to continue efforts to make Maine's tax code "simpler and more fair." Trahan is one of twenty Republicans in the Senate, which has fourteen Democrats and one independent.

Special session

Gov. LePage has called for a special legislative session to be held September 27, 2011. The purpose of the session is consideration of a congressional redistricting plan, which is currently being drafted by a 15-member redistricting committee. The Senate is expected to act on any nominations the Governor has made by that time, as well.