The Maine Legislature returns to work on Monday after a week of vacation, and it is expected to have a busy agenda with what may be an especially dramatic Tuesday as both chambers revisit the unfinished question of Governor Janet Mills’ $118 million supplemental spending measure, and the House considers censure motions against two representatives.
The entire legislative calendar is available to view, and citizens may submit testimony on bills online on the same state website. Highlighted links lead to Maine Wire coverage on legislation committees are considering.
Here’s what you need to know about the week ahead.
MONDAY, February 24th:
Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee have public hearings on LD 461 and LD 477. Both are bills about rural patrolling by law enforcement.
Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee has public hearings on resolutions concerning a bid for an Article V convention. LD 390 and LD 454 are bills regarding campaign finance and clean elections and will also have public hearings.
Judiciary Committee has a full docket of public hearings on a wide range of bills as well as a presentation from Attorney General Aaron Frey on police profiling and traffic stops. LD 332 seeks mandatory minimums for gross sexual assault against minors and sex traffickers and LD 449 seeks to conditionally discharge certain criminal defendants.
State and Local Government Committee has a public hearings on LD 358 to increase the fees paid to Registers of Deeds and a reform bill, LD 490, to have an automatic repeal of Agency rules after 5 years.
Appropriations (Budget Committee) meets to work on the state’s biennial budget, LD 210. This meeting will be long and detailed in budget language and minutia, but it is worth monitoring to see if the majority Democrats on the committee ram through a rushed final version of the biennial budget so that it can be on the House Calendar for Tuesday’s legislative session.
TUESDAY, February 25th:
The legislature is expected to convene for a session at 10 a.m. Everything on the state’s legislative calendar except for that session has been cancelled or rescheduled. This is an indicator that it will be an extremely long session. The House and Senate calendars will be posted on Monday evening and provide more information on what will be on the agenda for the day. There have been whispers over the weekend of several partisan fights that will happen on Tuesday. These include:
A vote to Censure Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) for social media posts where she took a stand against men in women’s sports.
A vote to Censure Rep. Randy Hall (R-Wilton) for being indicted on charges relating Maine Clean Elections signatures. Rep. Hall has not yet had his day in court nor has been convicted in this case.
Round 2 of the fight to pass a supplemental budget with a 2/3 vote. Republicans won Round 1 by staying united and demanding common sense reforms that Governor Mills had already approved be implemented. The Democrats main argument for passing the Supplemental Budget on February 11th was that it was an emergency. It didn’t pass and then the legislature took a week off. It will be difficult for the Democrats to credibly make the emergency argument again after that so look for them to take drastic measures to enact the supplemental budget.
[RELATED: House Dems Punt on $120M Spending Bill After GOP Demands Stronger Welfare Reforms]
There is a possibility that the 132nd Legislature adjourns Sine Die on Tuesday meaning it is the final day of the legislature’s business, and if so, that they are adjourned until January 2026. The only reason for them to do this would be for a rare and controversial procedural tactic with regard to the budget. The Democrats need to pass the supplemental budget with a 2/3 vote for it to take effect as soon as the Governor signs it. The 2/3 vote threshold would have to include Republicans to meet that number. That would require compromise from the Democrats, yet that has not happened in the six years of the Mills administration.
The only option left would be to adjourn the 132nd Legislature Sine Die so that the supplemental budget would take effect 90 days after that adjournment. The Democrats used this maneuver in 131st Legislature and Governor Mills called the legislature back into session to finish their work citing an ‘extraordinary occasion’. The move was challenged in court, and it will be interesting to see if the same ‘extraordinary occasion’ argument can be used if this special parliamentary procedure is now becoming standard practice.
The supplemental budget taking effect 90 days after adjournment is important because those funds have been committed to be spent before the start of the state’s new fiscal year on July 1st. It is not clear if it is even possible for the 132nd Legislature to adjourn without passing a biennial budget, which is why tracking the Appropriations Committee on Monday will be important to see what they do with regard to setting up the dominos that could fall in Tuesday’s session.
WEDNESDAY:
Criminal Justice Committee has a public hearing for LD 419, which aims to increase transparency for the state’s law enforcement intelligence fusion center, the Maine Information Analysis Center.
Education Committee has a public hearing for LD 34 that would increase the minimum wage for teachers.
State and Local Government Committee has a public hearing for LD 387 that would prohibit Governor Mills from relocating illegal immigrants to the state and LD 422 that would require municipal approval before the State can place non-citizens in a municipality.
THURSDAY:
Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee has a host of bills to repeal or modify Net Energy Billing. LD 32, LD 257, LD 359, LD 450 and LD 515 will most likely all be heard in the same public hearing allowing the public to testify on one or all of the bills at the same time.
Transportation Committee has many bridges to name, but the biggest bill of the day will be a public hearing for LD 275 which is the state’s Highway Budget.
Education Committee will be hearing LD 370 to raise the minimum standards for math to obtain a high school diploma, LD 534 to require hunter safety education in schools and LD 396 to require a later starting time for the state’s high schools.
FRIDAY:
Government Oversight Committee will be meeting to discuss Riverview and Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Centers and DHHS Processing of Payments for Foster Children in Daycare.
Health and Human Services Committee will be continuing Work Sessions on their portion of the state’s biennial budget.
The legislative business in the coming days in Augusta can change at any moment and The Maine Wire will be monitoring all developments and reporting on them as the week ahead plays out.
I would not he!p the democrats one little bit. They made the mess let them own it.
Republicans need to stand united against these out of control democrats .
Like Bingo just said , “ The Democrats made the mess , let them own it “
Laurel Libby should be commended for bringing the “men in women’s sports”, issue to the national media . The Maine “ Misinformation “ media would never have done it . This is disgraceful that our Governor supports this injustice .
If any Republicans vote to censure Rep. Libby, I hope their constituents contact them and give them heck about it.
They better start looking for an extra 280 million.
The legislature was done before they started. What a liberal shit show in Augusta. If they censor Libby we know exactly where the democrats stand at least (if there was any doubt). It may be a better idea to censor The Maine Principles Association, a nonprofit that is supported by Hammond Lumber among others. Perhaps they Maine Wire should be getting the Maine companies that support them on the record too.
What would Trump do?
Thank you Maine Wire/John Andrews for posting. I got a lot of homework to do. This list will help to cut directly on where candidates stand. By their fruits you shall know them.