Unemployment benefits and a Social Security payroll tax cut set to expire at the end of the year should be extended, Maine lawmakers said last week.

“If they aren’t extended, 6,100 people in Maine alone (in January) would lose their unemployment benefits, and thousands more would have less from their paychecks to spend at local stores,” said Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District.

However, reaching agreement on how to do that when lawmakers return this week from Thanksgiving break might not be easy for a divided Congress.

The supercommittee’s failure to reach a debt-reduction deal figures into the problem. Many lawmakers were counting on the extensions being included in at least $1.2 trillion in savings the committee was supposed to come up with, but members couldn’t agree on a plan.

Rep. Mike Michaud, D-2nd District, said the key, since many lawmakers don’t want to add to the deficit, is where the money comes from.

“Both of these things promote economic growth and job creation while at the same time helping those in need,” Michaud said in a statement. “I support ensuring they continue, but my vote will depend on the details of how the extensions are structured.”

GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine said “lawmakers must work in earnest to find agreement on these matters, including ways to pay for them.”

Grant boosts anti-fraud effort

A Maine program that helps seniors avoid being victimized by Medicare fraud will continue its work with the help of a federal grant awarded last week.

The $88,750 grant for the Senior Medicare Patrol program run by the state’s Office of Elder Services pays for a staff position, recruitment and training for more than 50 volunteers who teach seniors how to spot fraud, such as being overbilled for medication, or billing mistakes.

Most of the volunteers are seniors themselves, said Patrick Adams, manager of community programs for the Maine Office of Elder Services. The goal is to cut down on costs to taxpayers and money lost by Medicare beneficiaries, he said.

The program also helps seniors deal with telephone fraud and other consumer scams outside Medicare, including identity theft. It is successful enough that it has begun to address Medicaid fraud as well, Adams said.

Maine’s grant was part of $9 million distributed by the Department of Health and Human Services for similar initiatives nationwide.

Wreath program honored

The U.S. Senate is set to recognize a Maine nonprofit that lays wreaths on veterans’ graves at Arlington National Cemetery and elsewhere.

GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine are proposing a resolution designating Dec. 10 as “Wreaths Across America Day.”

That is the day wreaths made by the Worcester Wreath Co. in Harrington arrive at Arlington on trucks donated by companies from around the country. Volunteers will place wreaths at the more than 220,000 graves at Arlington.

The nonprofit Wreaths Across America runs the wreath-laying effort and solicits sponsorships and donations to help pay for it. Its executive director, Karen Worcester, is the wife of Morrill Worcester, president of Worcester Wreath Co.

Wreaths Across America also is laying wreaths at the tombstones in other veterans’ cemeteries around the country, about 400,000 in all. This is the initiative’s 20th year, but its first effort to lay wreaths at every tombstone at Arlington.

The organization will take donations until Dec. 8. More information can be found at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.

The Senate has approved similar resolutions in the past honoring Wreaths Across America.

Jonathan Riskind — 791-6280

jriskind@mainetoday.com

Twitter: MaineTodayDC.