Legislative Scouting Report: Will They or Won’t They Pass a Supplemental Budget this Week? Time is Running Out

The next and perhaps final phase of the budget battle is starting to gear up in Augusta. This week the House and Senate are scheduled for session days on both Tuesday and Thursday. The fact that the legislative calendars for tomorrow appears to be basically boilerplate is an indicator that the majority is setting their battle plan for the day.

The Appropriations Committee met on Friday and put parts of the supplemental budget that was defeated last week into a concept draft and parts of baseline spending in the biennial budget.

At this point in a legislative session, divided reports start to hit the floor for debate and voting. That’s common in late March. There are no divided reports up for votes tomorrow on the House Calendar. A divided report is the next phase for a bill after it has been voted out of its committee. If the bill received unanimous support from all members on the committee it goes straight to the Consent Calendar on the fast track to becoming a law.

This is rare. If the bill receives a unanimous ‘Ought Not to Pass’ it’s dead unless it is roll called on the floor. This is also rare. What usually happens to a bill in committee is a divided vote amongst members. This results in a divided report on the calendar. Divided reports are then roll called and debated on the floor. These can take up a lot of time during a session day with speeches, debate, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

A calendar clean of divided reports for tomorrow could be an indicator that the budget battle will ramp up. The last supplemental budget proposal, LD 209, died on Thursday after a day on which only the Senate was in session. The bill failed because the House and Senate could not come to an agreement.

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That’s why when the Appropriations Committee met at 4 pm on Friday, the mood was tense. The meeting started out with both parties angry at the other. Members did not hold back in their comments on mic, with both sides blaming one another for the bill’s defeat. The purpose of the meeting was to plan the next steps of the budget timeline.

Early on in the process, the majority Democrats had likely been planning to split up the biennial budget into two parts. That way if the supplemental budget failed, they’d have a backup plan. Even when the Budget Committee met on Friday, the biennial budget was still being put together. However, House Appropriations Chair Drew Gattine (D-Westbook) had stashed three concept drafts in the committee the week before. One of those concept drafts, LD 609, was chosen to be a vehicle for parts of the existing biennial budget and a do-over for parts of the failed supplemental budget.

According to an Appropriations Committee document entitled, Information about the Biennial Budget Work Sessions LD 210 and LD 609, the chairs of the committee laid out their plan, stating:

“The Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee will be considering partitioning their committee report on the Governor’s Biennial Budget into two reports on two separate budget bills. The first report would be on LD 609 which was printed and referred as a concept draft. The baseline budget for each existing program and a subset of initiatives and language parts contained in the Governor’s Biennial Budget proposal will be considered for inclusion in LD 609. Portions of the Committee Amendment and floor amendments for LD 209 ‘An Act to Make Supplemental Appropriations and Allocations from the General Fund and Other Funds for the Expenditures of State Government and to Change Certain Provisions of the Law Necessary to the Proper Operations of State Government for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2025‘ may also be considered for inclusion.”

Unsurprisingly, the committee vote was divided, and this resulted in a party line divided report. Once the bill is released from the Appropriations Committee it could hit the floor at any time. Because LD 609’s divided report was not listed on the calendar for tomorrow, it could come in as a supplement to the original calendar.

Supplements to the calendar are often kept off of the original calendar by the majority party in order to surprise the minority party. The timing of when supplements that are big and partisan are sprung is a parliamentary tactic. This is why the minority party needs to be on their toes to identify it and roll call it, putting representatives on the record. If they don’t, the bill on supplement could be approved as soon as the Speaker slams the gavel. If a divided report had a majority Ought to Pass motion and it goes under the hammer, it is considered a unanimous vote of approval by every member in the chamber. This is because no one objected and requested a roll call.

With there being two scheduled legislative session days this week, the final votes on the budget could happen by Thursday. If there is not a consensus between the chambers and the parties on the bill getting a 2/3 vote to make it an emergency bill, things will get interesting. Without the emergency preamble, the bill would not take effect until 90 days after the legislature adjourns for good. Logistically, the bill would need to take effect sooner than 90 days from the statutory adjournment on June 18th. It would need to be active for the state’s new fiscal year on July 1st, so without emergency designation on it, the legislature would need to adjourn for the year early.

What remains to be seen is whether the Democrats ram through a majority budget like they have in recent years. Will they adjourn the legislature early because of that majority budget? The answers to these questions may be clarified as soon as tomorrow’s session day unfolds.

If it is a quick morning of referencing bills with no big supplements, then adjournment for the day will be around lunch time. That will mean that committees will be in full swing around 1pm and that Thursday may be the day to watch. If however the House gets LD 609 in on supplement it could be a long day and evening as both chambers trade votes on LD 609, the hybrid biennial-supplemental bill. This would set up a potential early Sine Die adjournment of the legislature on Thursday evening.

There are a lot of moving parts in the ongoing budget battle and The Maine Wire will be there to cover it. Follow us on X and Facebook for updates on tomorrow’s legislative action.