AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills on Tuesday signed into law a budget that raises state spending to $10.3 billion and includes money for a new paid family and medical leave program and affordable housing.
The two-year budget came to fruition after Democrats who control the Legislature approved last week the roughly $445 million addition to the spending plan. Mills said the budget “makes transformative investments in Maine people” and took no questions from reporters.
Although prospects for a bipartisan deal looked better in late June after the Legislature’s budget committee nearly unanimously advanced the final part of the budget that included some Republican-led tax cuts, only a few of the minority party’s ultimately voted for the plan when it came up for votes last week in the House and Senate.
At least two-thirds of lawmakers in both chambers needed to OK the spending plan to make it take effect immediately. Instead, the money included in the package will not be available until October, or 90 days later. Mills signed the budget in her State House office suite while surrounded by mostly Democratic lawmakers, with a few Republicans on hand as well.
The mostly partisan process was a repeat of what happened in March, when Democrats bypassed Republicans to pass an initial $9.9 billion budget.
Republicans largely opposed the budget addition because it fell short of including their demand for up to $400 million in tax cuts, and it has funding for several Democratic priorities, such as 12 weeks of paid leave and changes meant to bolster the state’s child care system.
President Joe Biden’s administration took notice of Maine joining 12 states and Washington, D.C., with paid family and medical leave programs.
“We applaud states like Maine that are making progress on this critical issue,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement Tuesday.
The budget funds some Republican-led proposals, including a bill from House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, to increase Maine’s pension deduction from $30,000 to $35,000 and then more in the future based on the maximum Social Security benefit.
Rep. Sawin Millett, R-Waterford, who sits on the budget panel and was one of the few Republicans to support the final budget plan, told reporters Tuesday he believes the investments will pay off. But Millett also said he hopes for less partisan maneuvering in the future, adding this year’s process had “a lot of hiccups” and generated “bad feelings.”
Bipartisanship was not totally absent earlier this session. In June, Mills signed a transportation budget that pleased Republicans who pushed for it to have a more permanent funding stream.
The final budget also includes funding for affordable housing, education and emergency medical services, among other items.
The Legislature is not quite ready to adjourn for the summer. The budget panel is meeting later Tuesday to vote on whether to fund some of the vast number of bills that are sitting on the Special Appropriations Table. Lawmakers will also then take one day to vote on whether to override any additional vetoes from Mills.
