After a vacation week that ended with Maine at the middle of a national political firestorm, lawmakers will return to the State House to confront a $120 million problem: the supplemental budget. Gov. Janet Mills’ administration has said the supplemental spending bill is necessary to shore up Medicaid, known in Maine as MaineCare, and avoid having to stop payments to hospitals. MaineCare has been overdrawn to the tune of $118 million. But the Democratic Majority in the legislature didn’t like Gov. Mills’ proposed solution as it was too austere in the welfare-for-noncitizens department. The result was Democrats offering up a far left tax-and-spend package that lost all GOP support, meaning the bill couldn’t pass with the two-thirds support required for emergency spending bills.
Given that Democrat leadership has cleared the legislative calendar of all previously scheduled business, it is likely to be a long day of spending fights, potentially including more spending proposals than just the supplemental that Democrats abandoned on Feb. 11. Following the events at the White House on Friday, which were precipitated by Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) posting a viral image of a transgender male winning first place in a female pole vaulting contest, there’s also talk of Democrats censuring Libby for appearing to cyberbully a minor. Regardless, tensions are running high among Maine Democrats — as evidenced by an expletive laden tirade from Mill’s Chief of Staff, Jeremy Kennedy — meaning things get interesting Tuesday.
From the House Calendar:
Rep. Randy Hall (R) of Wilton was removed from the Agriculture Committee by House Speaker Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford). Rep. Hall has been indicted, but he has not had his day in court nor been convicted in this case. Speaker Fecteau has a history of using his power to remove elected representatives from their committees. (For full disclosure this list would include myself back when I was a legislator.)
Rep. Drew Gattine (D) of Westbrook is the House Chair of Appropriations and had three concept draft bills referred to the Appropriations Committee on February 20th. These unmarked bills, LD 608, LD 609, and LD 705, are essentially placeholders that could end up becoming the biennial budget with a few minor changes. They could then potentially be voted out of the Budget Committee tomorrow and put in front of the House and Senate during tomorrow’s projected marathon session.
Potential censure orders for both Libby and Hall wouldn’t necessarily have to appear on the House calendar. Indeed, Democrats may want to avoid giving Libby the opportunity to rally supporters in advance of the vote. But if that’s part of the consideration, the popularity of President Trump’s executive order protecting women’s sports, as well as the deep unpopularity of Mills’ policy allowing males to dominate women’s sports, may lead Democratic leaders to avoid censure altogether. Although a censure vote would show the progressive base that Democrats are fighting for transgender ideology, it would also propel Libby to martyrdom status.
