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What I'm hearing

Responsibly sourced gossip from the halls of power.

😐 There's something for everyone to hate about the governor's budget.

◉ The State House has been full of murmurs from Democrats and full-on complaints from Republicans since Gov. Janet Mills released her two-year budget proposal on Tuesday that includes tax hikes, fee increases and a ream of relatively small cuts to health care programs.

◉ Two things can be true at once about this budget. It is another example of Mills trying to rein in her party on spending amid flattening revenue projections. At the same time, the governor's budget is $1.1 billion higher than the last one. It is marked by MaineCare cost overruns that Republicans warned of going back to the first year of her tenure.

◉ Republicans have no incentive to embrace a budget with tax increases, with House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham of Winter Harbor telling reporters on Tuesday that he would expect zero votes from his party on this.

◉ But there are upset Democrats as well. Sen. Mike Tipping, D-Orono, who works for the progressive Maine People's Alliance, told News Center Maine: "There’s no reason we should be making these kinds of deep cuts that are going to hurt people in Maine." He suggested taxing corporations and wealthier Mainers at higher rates to make up the difference, something Mills has ruled out.

◉ “If Sen. Tipping has concerns about the budget proposal, he can feel free to share them with his colleagues on the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, who will be considering it," Mills spokesman Scott Ogden retorted in a statement to the station.

◉ There are plenty of Democrats who are more neutral about the budget as well. I spoke to one who likened the budget to "Salisbury steak and Brussels sprouts" but also noted that lawmakers signed up for the job and need to make difficult decisions in this budget cycle.

◉ Mills' budget is not a fun one for many people under the dome. She will sell it to them anyway. On Tuesday, lawmakers slated her State of the Budget Address for Jan. 28.

What I'm reading

News and notes

🆕 Maine's congressman has a new and topical committee assignment.

◉ U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine's 2nd District announced Tuesday that he will serve on the House Committee on Natural Resources, which handles a range of issues from fisheries and wildlife to public lands and tribal issues.

◉ That latter issue could come into play in the next two years. Golden is widely expected to run for governor in 2026. His many votes against national Democratic priorities could be his major vulnerability in a Democratic primary. But he is progressive on tribal issues, butting heads with Mills and King on a tribal-rights measure that he has vowed to reintroduce.

◉ Golden will serve in this spot while keeping his seat on the House Armed Services Committee in the new Congress.

↔️ New Hampshire is looking at Maine's way of electing presidents.

◉ Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire have submitted a bill that would get rid of the state's winner-take-all Electoral College system and allocate electors to presidential candidates by congressional district, according to the New Hampshire Bulletin. The state is led by Republicans but voted narrowly for Kamala Harris in last year's election.

◉ Maine pioneered this change in the late 1960s, and Nebraska is the only other state to do it. This system looked vulnerable last year, when Republicans there mulled a winner-take-all switch to aid Trump. Some Democrats here would have pushed to undo Maine's system if that had happened.

◉ “I want the people in each half of the state to feel that their vote isn’t being overlooked,” Sen. Bill Gannon, R-Sandown, said at a Tuesday hearing at which the bill gained little support. It looks for now like a minor issue on the other side of the border.

The State & Capitol calendar

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