This past week in Augusta, Democrat lawmakers pursued a relatively obscure parliamentary maneuver to pass an $11.3 billion spending bill without any Republican support.
But how did we get here from the $120 million supplemental spending bill that was being debated earlier this month?
After significant back and forth between chambers, this bill was placed in the legislative files as dead legislation, putting an end to the possibility that it could be adopted.
Two days later, the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee offered a more than 400-page amendment to a previously-introduced concept draft, morphing it into a partial biennial budget.
This proposal absorbed key line items from the supplemental budget and extended current levels of funding for all other government spending for two years.
Following extensive debate in both the House and Senate, where many amendments from Republican lawmakers were introduced but rejected, the multi-billion two-year budget was approved without any Republican support.
Because some Democrat lawmakers also voted against the proposal, it passed the Senate by only one vote.
Although approving legislation along party lines or by a slim margin is not, in and of itself, extraordinary, state Democrats took things a step further so that the funding in this bill could be made available more quickly.
To accomplish this, leadership adjourned the Legislature sine die, only for Gov. Janet Mills (D) to reconvene them immediately after signing the budget into law.
Adjourning sine die refers to when a legislative body ends its current meeting without setting a time to meet again. This procedural move is typically reserved for the end of a legislative session, after all business has been completed.
In this case, however, the Legislature was no where near ready to conclude its session, so the governor signed a proclamation calling them back into session this week.
This then raises the question of why lawmakers opted to adjourn in the first place, and the answer lies in Maine’s timeline for enacting legislation.
Generally speaking, approved legislation takes effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns sine die at the end of the session, which would normally take place about mid-year.
That said, lawmakers do have the option of giving a bill an emergency designation, allowing it to take effect immediately after being signed into law.
To do this, however, at least two-thirds of legislators in both chambers must agree to the same language, which, given the current composition of the Legislature, would require bipartisan cooperation.
Originally, the multi-million supplemental budget bill — worth about $120 million — was given an emergency preamble, as lawmakers were looking to make these appropriations available quickly.
Negotiations across the aisle fell apart, however, after Democrats rejected the welfare reform proposals that Mills had included in her proposed language, including limits on general assistance and rental assistance programs.
[RELATED: House Dems Punt on $120M Spending Bill After GOP Demands Stronger Welfare Reform]
These changes sparked unanimous opposition from Republicans, who have repeatedly expressed clear concern over the state’s current spending habits.
House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) argued on the chamber floor that Republicans “won’t sign a blank check today without seeing some fiscal responsibility in the form of cost savings.”
Once it became clear that Republicans would not be budging without some concessions from across the aisle, the bill’s emergency preamble was stripped from the budget, indicating that Democrats were changing their strategy.
Initially, bipartisan support was seen as essential to allow funding to be made immediately available, especially for the underfunded MaineCare program.
In late February, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced that MaineCare payments to providers would be temporarily paused until it had access to the additional $118 million originally included in the supplemental budget.
[RELATED: DHHS to Pause MaineCare Payments Until $118 Million from Controversial Spending Bill is Available]
Absent compromise from the Democrats to earn Republican support — and without making extraordinary procedural moves — this funding would not have been made available until late in the year.
Last week, however, Democrat legislators pivoted dramatically, ditching the $120 million supplemental spending bill in favor of a multi-billion dollar biennial budget that continues to fund all state services at the same level for the next two years.
Also included in the budget is the MaineCare funding originally at the heart of the supplemental budget debate, as well as funding to address the impending spruce budworm outbreak.
[RELATED: Democrats Ram Thru Unbalanced Budget Likely to Lead to Tax Hikes, Republican Leaders Say]
“The problem is, they don’t have any willingness to address the spending spree,” said Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) of his counterparts across the aisle. “The real losers tonight are the people of the state of Maine who in the short term might see some benefit from the spending, but it’s unsustainable. We’ve crossed that threshold.”
“A Democrat only, unbalanced budget passed today and then they adjourned the legislature so that this fraud of a budget can go into effect,” House Minority Leader Faulkingham said as he exited the state Capitol.
In a press release issued Friday, Mills appeared to criticize the lack of legislative cooperation, suggesting that signing the partisan budget into law was in Mainers’ best interest.
“Over the last two months, I repeatedly encouraged Democratic and Republican leadership to work together so we could avoid this unfortunate outcome,” she wrote. “However, I have signed this budget bill because it is in the best interest of the people of Maine.”
“It will pay Maine hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers, protect Maine forests from spruce budworm, and ensure essential government services that Maine people rely on are funded for the biennium,” Mills continued. “During this period of significant uncertainty nationally, our people, businesses, municipalities, and schools must have stability from their state government.”
Mills also explained her decision to call the Legislature back into session to finish the remainder of their work.
“But let me be clear – the Legislature has significant work left to do,” said Mills. “They have many hard decisions ahead. They cannot let tensions of the moment derail important long-term decisions for Maine people.”
“This has already delayed needed payments to our health care providers,” she concluded. “I will continue to strongly advocate for compromise, bipartisanship, and consensus among Democrats and Republicans during forthcoming budget negotiations.”
The massive budget signed into law last week is now set to take effect on June 20, 2025, shortly before the next fiscal year begins on July 1.
Also taking effect on this date will be any other bills that lawmakers had passed prior to adjourning.
This is not the first time that Democrats in Augusta have used this tactic to approve a budget without support from Republican lawmakers.
In 2023, the state was facing the possibility of a funding gap and potential government shutdown, meaning that lawmakers either had to pass a bipartisan, emergency budget or adjourn early.
Just as they did this year, Democratic lawmakers opted to adopt a party-line budget and adjourn early, only for the governor to immediately call them back into session.
This maneuver was challenged in court last year, ultimately making its way all the way to the Maine Supreme Court.
The plaintiffs in this case — including several Maine residents, the non-profit organization Respect Maine, and lawmakers Rep. Shelley Rudnicki (R-Fairfield) and Rep. Randall Greenwood (R-Wales) — argued that this represented an unconstitutional effort to “dictate the terms of legislative sessions” by “improperly delegat[ing] legislative constitutional authority to the executive branch.”.
This case was ultimately dismissed by the Maine Supreme Court, however, due to a lack of standing.
This decision is reflective of the Justices’ questions during oral arguments in May of 2024, much of which focused on the issue of standing or lack thereof — as opposed to the substance of Respect Maine’s complaint, which centered on an alleged abuse of process.
The Justices note in their opinion that they while affirm the Superior Court’s dismissal of the case, they did so only “on the ground that the plaintiffs lack standing.” As a result of this, the state’s highest court did not delve into the merits of the case in their ruling. The question of whether these tactics square with the constitution remains unanswered.
[RELATED: Maine Supreme Court Dismisses Conservative Lawsuit Targeting Parliamentary Trick]
Maine lawmakers are back to work in Augusta this week, resuming their regularly scheduled activities, despite the brief adjournment last week to allow the 90-day clock to begin ticking for the multi-billion two-year budget.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="37071 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=37071">6 Comments
If they can’t balance the budget, we can’t afford to pay THEM.
If they can’t balance the budget, we have NO money for illegals.
If they can’t balance the budget, they do not belong being employed as Public Servants.
When they have to use fuckery to pass a budget let there be no doubt your leadership does not represent you.
What a clown show!
Porca miseria!
When will the people of Maine say enough is enough. We have been letting this crap go on and on. Enough already. We need tp stand against the south of Maine. Bout time to rule in these tyrrants.
Elections have consequences.