Members of the Legislature's Education Committee say penalties for schools that have not yet merged under the state's school consolidation law should not be included in the school subsidy process -- or in the budget.

Members of the Legislature's Education Committee are upset that the Baldacci administration's plan for distributing state aid to local schools includes penalties for school districts that have yet to merge under Maine's school consolidation law. State Sen. Justin Alfond, a Portland Democrat who co-chairs the committee, says he feels as though he was "railroaded."

"We want a delay in penalties until 2012, and we have said that the penalty monies of $5.9 million should be redistributed back to all the schools of Maine," Alfond says.

Committee members want penalties to be delayed a year to allow communities to enter into consolidation talks and accomplish further merger of school districts, according to Capitol News Service. Penalties related to consolidation, they say, should not be part of the school subsidy process, and the penalties should not be included in the budget.