By Michael Shepherd - April 6, 2022 Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up.
Good morning from Augusta.
What we're watching today
Maine legislators are making final pitches for endangered bills before leaving Augusta for the year. Negotiations over Gov. Janet Mills' $1.2 billion spending package have been reasonably sedate so far. Republicans are looking to speed up the $850 relief checks at the center of the proposal but generally do not seem to be in a fighting mood. Meanwhile, bigger items are starting to make their way unanimously through the budget panel, including $12 million in child care subsidies voted into the final package on Monday. There is still some frustration lingering about the process, including among majority Democrats who initially thought Maine's giant revenue surplus fueled by federal aid would provide a bigger opportunity to enact long-approved measures still awaiting funding. But only $20 million or so is left over in Mills' updated proposal, creating a fair amount of scarcity in Augusta. Some of that spilled over in the Legislature's judiciary panel, whose Democratic chairs, Sen. Anne Carney of Cape Elizabeth and Thom Harnett of Gardiner, sent a letter to budget writers on Tuesday citing more than $6.3 million in measures "inconceivably" left out of the governor's package to bolster the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services, the agency facing a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine alleging that it is not providing adequate representation to clients due in part to chronic underfunding. More funding for the commission is included in Mills' budget proposal, but those in charge of it along with advocates want more. Tension over the proposed changes led one commissioner to resign recently, citing slow adoption of reform efforts by state policymakers. The biggest part of the reforms desired by lawmakers would boost court-appointed attorney pay from $80 to $100 hourly. Some of these disputes are lower-key. For example, Democrats on the health insurance committee are fighting for a bill to create a tax checkoff program to make it easier for eligible people to sign up for Medicaid, arguing that the fiscal estimate on the bill is too high. These are normal things that happen around crunch time on Maine budgets, but more money and measures are at stake this year. Budget writers will take all of this into account as they sprint toward the finish line.
News and notes
— A state constitutional right to a "clean and healthy environment" is on track to die after it failed to win a two-thirds majority in the Maine House on Tuesday. The "Pine Tree Amendment" sponsored by outgoing Sen. Chloe Maxmin, D-Nobleboro, had a bipartisan group of cosponsors and was backed by environmental groups and tribes. But it was opposed by a diverse coalition of agricultural, business and municipal interests.
🗞 The Daily Brief is made possible by Bangor Daily News subscribers. Support the work of our politics team and enjoy unlimited access to everything the BDN has to offer by subscribing here.
What we're reading
— At the opening of a new Maine Republican Party cultural center in Portland, former Gov. Paul LePage said former President Donald Trump was "too harsh" on immigrants. It comes after LePage endorsed many of Trump's more hardline policies during their overlapping tenures and pulled Maine from a federal refugee resettlement program just before the 2016 election. — Rep. Jeff Evangelos, I-Friendship, who was one of two lawmakers to oppose a pro-Ukraine resolution approved Tuesday in the Maine House of Representatives, said while he opposed the Russian invasion, he disagreed with the measure in part because neo-Nazis have "taken over" Ukraine's military. That is an overstatement of the far-right influence there and matches propaganda that President Vladimir Putin has used to justify the invasion. — Portland is sharply increasing funding for support services in schools because students are more likely to face mental health struggles more than two years into the pandemic. The district increased funding from $3 million to $9 million over the last five years and has doubled its staff of social workers and behavioral health workers. — Maine could have among the nation's tightest races for legislative control in 2022. The forecasting site CNalysis now gives Republicans a slight edge in the Maine House while leaving Democrats slightly favored in the Senate. FiveThirtyEight also noted that seats at the fulcrum of each chamber lean slightly Republican despite Maine's status as a Democratic state.
📱Want daily texts from me tipping you to political stories before they break? Get Pocket Politics. It is free for 14 days and $3.99 per month if you like it.
Follow along today
9:30 a.m. Mills and House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, will hold a State House news conference highlighting the passage of $12 million in child care subsidies included in the governor's supplemental budget proposal. The item was endorsed unanimously by budget writers this week. 10 a.m. The judiciary panel will work on the mostly annual bill that corrects errors and inconsistencies in state law. This version has 60 fixes. Watch here. 2 p.m. The budget committee continues work on Mills' spending package. Watch here. 6:30 p.m. Mills will discuss the opioid crisis with author and journalist Sam Quinones at the University of Southern Maine. There will be a panel discussion after the interview featuring U.S. Attorney Darcie McElwee and recovery experts. Register here.
📷Lead photo: Rep. Thom Harnett, D-Gardiner, speaks at a news conference on July 17, 2015, after a fire in his home city while he was mayor. Fire Marshal Joe Thomas is behind him. (BDN photo by Troy R. Bennett)
