Catch up on the latest state budget decisions in the Maine Legislature

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4 hours ago

Entrance to the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee room in the Maine State House in Augusta. (Photo by Jim Neuger/Maine Morning Star)
A budget plan is taking shape and the clock is ticking.
Maine Morning Star will have regular updates as the committee tasked with setting that plan, the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, takes straw votes on what to include ahead of a final vote on the budget proposal to be sent to the Maine Senate and House of Representatives for consideration.
Legislative leaders have said the intention is to complete all work by June 18, what had been the statutory adjournment date for the first regular session. Though, the Legislature is now in a special session, without a formal deadline.
In March, the Democratic majority pushed through a roughly $11.3 billion, two-year budget plan without Republican support and formally adjourned in order to start the clock for those funds to become available in 90 days.
Senate Republicans refused to back an alternative short-term plan that would have immediately filled the current deficit for MaineCare, the state's Medicaid program, because it did not include structural reform to the program.
The budget that did pass continued funding for state services at the same level while also providing one-time funding for MaineCare and other urgent needs. But it didn't include any of the policy changes Gov. Janet Mills proposed, such as tax increases and program cuts, to address the deficit and flattening revenues.
These proposals and others from lawmakers are now being weighed by the appropriations committee as it crafts the next iteration of the budget.
Follow along below:
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Monday morning at the State House began with more talk about taxes as the Appropriations Committee continued its line-by-lines votes on what to include in the budget.
The majority of the committee voted to remove Mills' proposed tax on ambulance services, which is one of several tax increases the governor proposed as a means to address the deficit and flattening revenues.
The tax on non-municipal ambulance service providers would have been equal to 6% of their net operating revenue, which the Mills administration said it would have used to leverage additional federal dollars and eventually increase MaineCare reimbursements.
While Republicans on the committee said they supported removing the tax — as the minority party has made clear it will not support tax increases of any kind — they questioned how the state will deal with those shortfalls and pay for additional spending the committee has approved.
One example from Monday was reallocating the cost of an emergency coordinator position that is partially funded through federal expenditures to being completely supported by the general fund.
'We're moving positions and costs into the general fund, and my only question is, where is that money coming from?' Sen. Sue Bernard (R-Aroostook) asked. 'Is it coming from more tax increases? Is it coming from cutting other programs that we haven't gotten to yet, or what?'
Sen. Peggy Rotundo (D-Androscoggin), who co-chairs the committee, responded, 'As we build this budget, we will take care of that in one way or another so that the budget will balance at the end.'
It is not yet clear whether the committee will support some of Mills' other proposed taxes or the cuts she proposed to health and child care programs. So far, the committee also voted out a proposed pharmacy tax.
Implications from federal funding cuts were also top of mind.
The coordinator position was one of several that the committee readjusted to be more reliant on state funding, though Mills made those recommendations before President Donald Trump's administration began rescinding congressionally appropriated funds.
'We have talked about the fact that if federal funds disappear, positions disappear,' Rotundo said.
But some concerns about federal funding predated Trump's second term. During the public hearing for the budget bill, the Maine Emergency Management Agency said budget deficits related to federal funding had already resulted in the agency leaving two positions vacant.
The committee voted to fund two positions fully with the general fund, after they'd previously been supported solely by federal dollars.
'It was important to make sure that these positions were preserved and that it was worth the investment in additional general fund dollars,' said Rep. Drew Gattie (D-Westbrook), the other co-chair of the committee.
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During the committee's last meeting on Thursday, the majority of its members rejected a tax on Maine pharmacies the governor had proposed, while voting in favor of additional funding and rate reform for nursing homes.
The pharmacy tax would have imposed a 70-cent tax on every outpatient prescription filled by Maine pharmacies, the revenue from which the Mills administration said it would use to leverage additional federal dollars and eventually increase MaineCare reimbursements.
'I haven't voted for any items,' said Republican budget lead Jack Ducharme of Madison on Thursday. 'Yet, this will be my first, because I believe that we already collect too much taxes.'
With a 10-2 vote, other Republicans backed removing the tax too, though the holdouts noted that their opposition was because of a lack of clarity about the overall budget plan.
'I applaud the work of the majority in terms of removing this,' Rep. Ken Fredette (R-Newport) said. 'However, I will be consistent in reviewing the overall global budget in determining whether or not I will support it.'
That sentiment was also shared ahead of the committee voting 9-3 in favor of $20 million in additional funding for nursing homes over the biennium. This includes a $6.5 million investment for rate reform to support the direct care workforce and incentivize permanent staff, which would in turn unlock $12.2 million in funding from the federal government.
'Nursing home rate reform is very important to us, however at this particular time we have not had a discussion about where additional general funds come from that we're going to need,' Ducharme said. 'In order for me to support this, even though I would historically support something like this, I want to know where the money's coming from.'
Other Republicans had a different take. While Rep. Amy Bradstreet Arata of New Gloucester would also like to know where the funds are coming from, 'I feel right about supporting this,' she said. 'I might not support the entire package, but I feel better knowing that this is in there, ultimately.'
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