By Michael Shepherd - March 13, 2023
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📷 Gov. Janet Mills delivers her budget address at the State House in Augusta on Feb. 14, 2023. (AP photo by Robert F. Bukaty)

Good morning from Augusta. Several voting bills are up for public hearings on Monday. Here's the legislative committee agenda.

What we're watching today

The governor's office criticizes Republicans with a budget deadline looming. After rolling out a $10.3 billion budget proposal in January, Gov. Janet Mills said it should win bipartisan support in Augusta. Legislative Republicans thought they could keep a consensus plan on track. That was not a sure bet at the time, and it looks to be an even dicier one now.

Lawmakers have until the end of June to pass a two-year budget if they have a deal that can win two-thirds majorities. But if the Democrats who run things in Augusta want to pass a budget alone, as they did in 2021, it needs to happen by the end of this month so it takes effect by the end of this fiscal year.

This looks like a consideration. Last week, I got a tip that the idea of a majority budget came up in a recent meeting between Mills and the top Democrats in the Legislature. Spokespeople for House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross of Portland and Senate President Troy Jackson of Allagash did not respond to questions on the topic.

Mills' office did not address the meeting in a statement. Instead, it looked to put pressure on Republicans for wanting to hold the budget at roughly $9.9 billion under a spending cap in state law that the governor is trying to change, arguing that such a line would erode bipartisan priorities from the last budget.

"If Republicans want to renege on the commitments they previously supported, then the Governor believes they have an obligation to the people of Maine to clearly state what programs and services they want to cut from the proposed budget," Scott Ogden, a Mills spokesperson.

One of the Republicans on the budget panel, Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford, was bemused by the statement, saying members are working well together. He noted increased state government positions and other items in the budget as areas that Republicans are reviewing, but he said it was premature to argue that they were looking to cut current spending items.

"I find it really unhelpful and perhaps hostile to the governor's expressed desire for a cooperative, bipartisan budget for her to characterize positions Republicans haven't taken as of yet as we do our job to properly scrutinize the increases that she's proposed," he said.

When Democrats pursued a majority budget in 2021, the announcement came with about a week to go before the deadline. This year, policy committees are moving quickly through their recommendations on the budget, with 14 panels already filing so-called report-backs to the appropriations committee.

Since the two-thirds budget is typically the minority party's best chance at leverage, some Republicans have been worrying of late that Democrats may cut them out. But one Democrat said it has not come up in any party meetings so far and he hears the idea brought up most by Republicans.

"We can't do a majority budget without the governor's leadership on it and agreement from Democratic leadership in the House and Senate," Rep. Joe Perry, D-Bangor, the co-chair of the tax committee, said. "If those conversations are going on there and it's going to be sprung on us sometime in the next week or so, that's a possibility, but I have no indication that's going on."

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News and notes

📷 House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, applauds after Gov. Janet Mills takes the oath of office on Jan. 4, 2023, in Augusta. (BDN photo by Troy R. Bennett)

👊 Maine's Republican senator and progressive speaker align on a big issue.

◉ Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, wrote a letter to President Joe Biden's administration on Monday asking it to slow the arrival of asylum seekers in part by verifying that they have a "safe and reliable destination" upon entry.

◉ More than 700 asylum seekers have come to Portland since January, with city officials saying last week that shelters are filling and nearing a tipping point at which services may not be able to be delivered.

◉ Collins' letter was criticized by some immigrant advocates, but the city told Maine Public it supports her actions. The letter came after the senator met with Talbot Ross, who said in a statement that she brought up address verification and the need to shorten the six-month wait for work visas for asylum seekers when she talked with Collins.

◉ "Ultimately, Maine needs additional support, resources and immediate action from the federal government to ensure our new Maine residents have an opportunity to succeed," Talbot Ross said in a statement.

⚔️ Both parties put Maine's 2nd District high on 2024 priority lists.

◉ Maine's swing congressional district is stretching its run of being one of the nation's most competitive to a decade. Both parties' campaign arms put the 2nd District at the top of recently released defensive and offensive priority lists.

◉ Golden was among 29 vulnerable Democrats identified last week by his party who will qualify for more help and resources, while Republicans put him among their 37 top targets as they look at growing a thin majority.

◉ President Donald Trump could be on the ballot for a third-straight election in 2024, but Golden won a split with Trump in 2020 and survived a challenge from former Rep. Bruce Poliquin in 2022. The congressman is now in his third term and while the district will always be tough, he is looking as entrenched as ever.

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What we're reading

💡 A Maine lawmaker sees malls as a solution to the housing shortage.

🔎 Family of a 3-year-old who died of drug exposure says caseworkers did not heed their warnings, Maine Public reports.

🇺🇦 John Bapst is trying to keep four Ukrainian students for another year.

🚔 Bangor-area police are adjusting recruiting to deal with staff shortages.

🪵 Maine's dwindling cedar supply challenges a log-home company. Here's your soundtrack.

⚫ Holden police chief and radio host Chris Greeley died at 60.

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