Among the thirty-five bills passed on Veto Day that Gov. Janet Mills (D) did not sign into law was a piece of legislation designed to provide property tax relief to a broader group of Maine veterans and their families, while also extending a greater measure of relief to veterans with qualifying disabilities.
The final day of the Legislative session in Maine — colloquially referred to as “Veto Day” — is typically set aside for lawmakers to consider whether or not to overturn any vetoes that have been issued by the governor.
This year, however, lawmakers also used this time to approve thirty-five new bills that were subsequently sent to Gov. Mills for consideration.
In a letter shared with members of the Legislature, Mills explained that she would not be signing any of these measures into law, irrespective of her stance on their objectives.
[RELATED: Janet Mills Will Not Sign Bills Passed by Lawmakers on Veto Day]
One of the bills that was rejected as a result of this decision was LD 1737, a piece of legislation aimed at expanding veterans’ access to property tax relief measures.
Prior to reaching Mills’ desk, lawmakers in both chambers had approved the bill unanimously without taking a roll call vote.
The version of the bill ultimately advanced by legislators, however, looked markedly different from the original draft introduced in 2023 by Rep. Benjamin C. Hymes (R-Waldo).
At first, this bill was designed to allow qualifying veterans to reduce their property tax bill by up to $5,000, replacing the current exemption, which instead allows them to take $5,000 off their property’s valuation.
The amended version of the bill, however, primarily sought to provide relief to Maine veterans by expanding the statutory criteria one must meet to be eligible for a deduction.
Under the final legislation, a veteran would have no longer been required to have served during a federally recognized war period in order to receive this relief. Additionally, certain survivors would also have been able to access these benefits — including an un-remarried widow or minor child — in the event of a veteran’s death.
Also encompassed under the law would have been the parent of a deceased veteran who is 62 or older and is an un-remarried widow or widower receiving compensation from the Federal Government based upon the service-connected death of his or her child.
That said, the amended version of LD 1737 would also have lowered the amount taken off the value of a veteran’s property for tax purposes from $6,000 to $5,000, reserving the $6,000 deduction for veterans 62 and older.
The bill did, however, include more significant deductions for veterans with a service-connected disability rating from the federal government of 60 percent or greater, ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 depending on the extent of their disability.
[RELATED: Expanded Property Tax Relief for Maine Veterans Approved by Augusta Lawmakers]
In her letter to lawmakers explaining why she decided not to sign the thirty-five bills approved on Veto Day, Mills said that lawmakers’ choice to ignore the legislative processes outlined in statute and in the state’s constitution left her “gravely concerned.”
“Signing any of these bills, no matter how much I may see value in some of them, would send the message that the Legislature is allowed to flout its own self-imposed and Constitutionally-imposed limitations, which would create a precedent for future legislatures to do the same, and subject the bills to the threat of serious legal challenge,” said Mills.
The governor went on to argue that “constitutional norms” and “institutional safeguards” must be maintained “no matter how inconvenient” they may be, “even when they may be an impediment to achieving good policy aims.”
Click Here to Read the Full Letter Gov. Mills Sent to Lawmakers
