Maine governor signs 2-year budget that angered Republicans
FILE - The Maine State House is seen at dawn from Capitol Park on Dec. 2, 2020, in Augusta, Maine. Democratic leaders in the Maine Legislature were prepared Thursday, March 30, 2023, to push through a $9.8 billion, two-year state budget that’ll ensure there’s no government shutdown this summer. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
Gov. Janet Mills on Friday signed a two-year, nearly $10 billion budget jammed through by fellow Democrats that will keep government services rolling — and possibly avert a shutdown — in the new fiscal year.
Mills said she was unwilling to take a chance of Republicans using the threat of a shutdown as a bargaining tactic.
“I would have preferred to sign a budget that has bipartisan support, but the possibility of a government shutdown – which would be extremely harmful to Maine people – is something I cannot accept,” she said in a statement.
Lawmakers adjourned late Thursday so the budget can go into effect on July 1, the start of the fiscal year. Mills signed a proclamation Friday calling them back to work in a special session starting Wednesday.
She insisted that the current budget containing no new programs is not the final word. There will be a supplemental budget in which new programs and spending priorities will be discussed.
“I recognize that tensions are high, but there is still a lot of work left to do, with room — I believe — for compromise. I urge Democrats and Republicans to reset and to begin anew the work of negotiating their priorities during the next round of budget discussions,” she said.
Democrats, who hold majorities in both legislative chambers, pushed through a continuing services budget on party-line votes over forceful GOP objections on Thursday.
The timing allows the budget to go into effect 90 days later on July 1 with simple majority votes. Lawmakers would have had to approve the budget with a two-thirds majority, a steeper hurdle that would have required Republican support, if they’d waited until later in the legislative session.
Republicans were incensed over the maneuver. Several of them said they were negotiating in good faith and noted that their proposal to reduce income taxes on lower- and middle-income Mainers by $200 million would have reduced the overall size of the budget by only 2%.
Rep. Scott Cyrway, a Republican from Albion, said during the floor debate that Democrats chose to freeze out the GOP even though there was plenty of time to reach a consensus that could have achieved a two-thirds majority.
“That’s all we’re asking — R-E-S-P-E-C-T,” he said, spelling out the word for emphasis.
It was the second time in Mills’ tenure that Democrats have used the maneuver of adopting a majority vote, adjourning the Legislature, and then resuming a special session.
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Sharp reported from Portland, Maine.