Seven Republicans in the Maine Senate voted with Democrats on Wednesday against a GOP-led bill that would have stopped the state from depositing non-citizens in municipalities without their consent, helping to kill the measure.
[RELATED: Maine Republicans Push Bill to Curb State’s Migrant Resettlement Authority…]
“This is about local control. Municipalities can better determine the heavy burden and impact of relocating noncitizens within their borders. Oakfield, Maine is drastically different Portland, Maine,” Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) said in the bill’s defense.
“Population, taxes, housing, municipal services all vary from town to town. We should not have a one-size-its-all welcoming committee. Let communities decide what’s best for themselves. It’s a matter of affordability,” Sen. Stewart argued when the bill was up for a public hearing in March.
But when the Senate voted on Wednesday for Rep. Gregory Swallow’s (R-Houlton) LD 422, which would have simply required a municipality’s approval before the state could resettle non-citizens there and allowed the town or city to limit the number of non-citizens it was able to accept, only seven of 15 Republicans in the caucus — less than half — supported it.
The bill was reported out of the Committee on State and Local Government with a divided report, with the Democratic majority voting “ought not to pass” and the committee Republicans voting in favor of an amended version of the bill. That amendment expanded the bill to prevent agents of the state, as well as the state itself, from resettling migrants without municipal approval.
The Senate voted 27-7 to accept the majority ought-not-to-pass recommendation.
Senators Richard Bennett (R-Oxford), Susan Bernard (R-Aroostook), Bruce Bickford (R-Androscoggin), Russell Black (R-Franklin), Matt Harrington (R-York), James Libby (R-Cumberland), and Jeffrey Timberlake (R-Androscoggin) all voted with Democrats against the bill, ensuring its defeat.
Sen. Timberlake was initially supporting the legislation, but changed his vote at the last moment.
The Maine Wire reached out to Sen. Harrington, the Assistant Senate Republican Leader, asking him why he voted against the bill.
“I couldn’t see what it was accomplishing, I think the issue is the services they take once they arrive, which could be a different language. Whether they’re an immigrant or a homeless Mainer,” said Harrington, speaking to The Maine Wire.
“I’m concerned our party is becoming anti-immigrant and needs to stay on topic of real immigration issues,” he added.
The Maine Wire also reached out to Sen. Bennett, but he did not respond.
Wednesday’s Senate vote played out very differently from the House vote on the bill the day before. Though the ought-not-to-pass recommendation ultimately prevailed in the House, it was a much closer 75-65 roll call. And, unlike the Senate vote, the House voted strictly along party lines, with all present Republicans supporting the bill and all Democrats opposed.
