AUGUSTA -- Lawmakers elected in November will be asked to make tough decisions on the state budget, including cuts to the funding that supports their branch of government.

The tentative two-year budget for the legislative branch is $59.4 million for fiscal years 2010-11. That's a 6 percent increase from last year.

"In January, the Legislative Council will be responsible for trying to find a significant amount of savings in order to meet our target," said House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven.

The governor's office has already identified a more than $500 million gap between revenues and spending proposals in the new two-year budget. When new initiatives are included, the proposal is a $6.8 billion budget.

Gov. John Baldacci has called on all state departments, and Judicial and Legislative branches of government, to come back to him with a 10 percent reduction in spending to help close the gap.

The governor is required to present the Legislature with a balanced budget in January.

The Legislative Council is the governing body of the Legislature, and is made up of Democratic and Republican leaders.

In recent years, the council has tried to take cost cutting measures to hold the line on the budget, Pingree said. Those steps include:

* a new computer system in the House chamber designed to save on the cost of printing bills;

* requiring all newly hired, session-only staff to pay for their health care benefits when not working for the state; and

* negotiating advertising costs with newspapers to save money on listings for legislative hearings and other public notices.

But some say it's not enough.

Stephen Bowen, a former Republican legislator who now works for the conservative think tank Maine Heritage Policy Center, said there should also be limits on the number of bills that can be submitted, the legislative session should be shortened, and that lawmakers should consider combining partisan constituent services into one nonpartisan office.

"Our legislative sessions drag on and on and on," he said.

Shortening the session would likely be one of the options discussed by the council after the election. It costs $40,000 to $50,000 a week when the Legislature is in session, said David Boulter, executive director of the Legislative Council.

The members of the council won't be sworn in until Dec. 3, when the new Legislature is seated. After that, they will meet to discuss the budget.

The tentative budget Boulter compiled includes a 6 percent increase in the cost of health insurance each year and increases in the cost of dental coverage.

The legislative budget has grown about $3 million each two-year budget cycle in recent years, starting at $53 million in 2006-07, $56 million in 2008-09 and a projected $59.4 million in 2010-11.

The Legislature's two-year budget includes salary and benefits for all 186 legislators and staff, $46.5 million; Statehouse maintenance, $1.6 million; the Law and Legislative Reference Library, $3 million; and the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, $2 million.

Senate Minority Leader Carol Weston, R-Montville, said she'd like to see a change in the way the Legislature issues sentiments, which are official acknowledgments from lawmakers.

Rules allow them to be issued for things such as wedding anniversaries of 50 years or more, birthdays of 75 years or more at five-year intervals, and winning high school sports teams.

As it is now, the sentiments are drafted as a bill. But Weston said there's no reason an official certificate signed by legislative leaders couldn't serve the same purpose -- and would save time in the revisor's office.

"I tried to talk about it a little bit," she said. "I couldn't seem to get traction."

That idea, and the proposal to create a nonpartisan office to handle constituent services, come from a 2005 report from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Lawmakers paid $48,300 for the study in hopes of finding ways to be more efficient.

And while they did implement changes to the benefits given to session-only staff, they adopted few of the other recommendations. Many were managerial and did not point to specific cost savings.

Pingree, who was not in legislative leadership when the report was released, said she'd be willing to revisit the report this year to look for money-saving ideas.

Bowen said that, although the Legislature's portion of the budget is small, it would send a big message to the public if lawmakers made some real cuts before turning to programs in health care and education.

"That may be small potatoes," he said, but "it means the Legislature gets it."

Susan Cover -- 620-7015

scover@centralmaine.com