With less than two weeks left, lawmakers still debating budget plan

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9 hours ago

The offices of the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs in the State House in Augusta. (Photo by Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)
'We will make it work. We're going to be done by the 18th, so just buckle up for the ride.'
That's what Sen. Peggy Rotundo (D-Lewiston), co-chair of the Maine Legislature's Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, told Rep. Ken Fredette (R-Newport) when he asked late Thursday afternoon if there was a deadline the committee is working toward to finalize a budget proposal.
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.
The two-year budget was 'not the last word.' Here's what comes next.
But with those appropriations not available until June 20, health care providers have warned of depleted funds hampering services.
The budget did not 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.
During the committee's last meeting on Thursday, it made a handful of decisions. 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 hold outs 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,' Fredette 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.'
In a statement shared after the votes, Rotundo said supporting access to health care is a priority this session.
'It's important to note that a budget isn't built all at once,' Rotundo added. 'It comes together line by line, through careful consideration of the proposals and thoughtful votes like the ones we took today in committee.'
Those line-by-line votes will be continuing this week, including on the governor's other proposed taxes on cigarettes, cannabis, streaming services, pensions and ambulances. The committee will also consider Mills' proposals to cut certain child and health care programs.
Governor, Democrats split on regressive or progressive tax changes to close budget gap
The proposed cuts include reversing the state's recent investments in child care by reducing worker stipends by $30 million to bring them back to 2022 levels, a roughly $8 million cut to low-income food assistance for asylum seekers who have received work permits but are looking for employment, and cutting funding for two crisis receiving centers established by the Legislature in the wake of the Lewiston mass shooting.
Mills also proposed adding stricter limits to General Assistance, some of which were considered in the change package that failed but not ultimately included in the initial two-year budget passed in March.
Advocates and lawmakers rallied in Augusta last week to urge the Legislature to reject Mills' proposed cuts and instead continue to fund these programs by taxing the wealthy.
Such proposals are in LD 1089, which would raise taxes on incomes over $1 million to fund public education, and LD 1879, which would raise the tax rate on corporations to support the agricultural economy. Another proposal, LD 229, would adjust the state's tax brackets. These bills have yet to receive floor votes.
These decisions are also clouded by federal uncertainty, with Maine's Revenue Forecasting Committee already discussing the possibility of having to return this summer after a federal budget is passed to adjust revenue expectations.
As the appropriations committee continues to shape the budget plan this week, lawmakers are also expected to cast hundreds of votes on other legislation. Among the bills already passed, more than 100 have been placed on the appropriations table to vie for funding.
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