Maine lawmakers have officially shot down a proposed constitutional amendment that would have effectively prevented future Legislatures from engaging the same kind of parliamentary maneuvering used earlier this year — and in previous sessions during the Mills administration — by Democrats to pass a party-line budget.
The proposed amendment would have prohibited the Maine’s governor from calling the Legislature into a special session within 90 days of adjournment.
This, in effect, would likely prevent or deter the kind of parliamentary maneuvering that was seen this past week with respect to the $11.3 billion partial biennial budget — a budget that has set the table for massive tax increases in the new special session by failing to fund MaineCare for FY 2027.
Following extensive debate on the floor of the House and Senate, a substantial two-year budget bill was passed without any Republican support.
This spending bill included a nearly $120 million MaineCare bailout for the current year and provided a two-year extension of all other government funding at its current levels.
Because this bill was passed without bipartisan support, however, this money would normally not be made available until late this year, roughly three months after the Legislature adjourned for the session. When lawmakers pass majority budgets, they must be passed earlier in a session with only abbreviated debate or else the government could have a temporary lapse in funding.
To make the funding from the partisan budget available before the start of the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1, leadership invoked extraordinary procedural measures.
By adjourning sine die, a move typically reserved for the end of the Legislative session, Democratic lawmakers were able to start the 90-day clock for approved non-emergency legislation to take effect.
Consequently, funds from the party-line budget will be made available on June 20, just days before the start of the next fiscal year, despite the clear lack of Republican support.
Since legislators were nowhere near ready to adjourn, however, Gov. Janet Mills (D) immediately called them into special session, allowing them to seamlessly continue with their work without interruption. The adjournment, it appears, was in bad faith.
[RELATED: What Just Happened in Augusta?]
Under the terms set by the constitutional amendment proposed in LD 1331, Gov. Mills would not have had the authority to do this so quickly.
This is the third time Gov. Mills and legislative Democrats have used the previously taboo gimmick to cut the minority party out of budget negotiations.
By requiring the governor to wait at least 90 days from adjournment before calling a special session, it would likely discourage this kind of parliamentary maneuvering, as it would result in significant interruptions.
The resolution containing the proposed constitutional amendment was sponsored by Rep. Josh Morris (R-Turner) and cosponsored by several other Republican lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor).
In order for a constitutional amendment to go before voters for ratification, at least two-thirds of legislators in both the House and Senate must vote in favor the resolution.
Following a public hearing and work session, lawmakers on the State and Local Government Committee were divided along partisan lines with respect to this proposal, with all Democrats opposing it and all Republicans supporting it.
A Tuesday vote in the House also fell strictly along party lines in this same manner, while three Republican senators joined the Democrats in opposition.
Republicans voting against LD 1331 included Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford), Sen. Jim Libby (R-Cumberland), and Sen. Marianne Moore (R-Washington).
In order for a constitutional amendment to go before voters for ratification, at least two-thirds of legislators in both the House and Senate must vote in favor the resolution. Consequently, LD 1331 would have needed support from a supermajority of lawmakers to advance any further.
