By Michael Shepherd - Feb. 24, 2023
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📷 Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine's 2nd District, speaks at a news conference on Nov. 1, 2022, at the State House in Augusta. (AP photo Robert F. Bukaty)

Good morning from Augusta. The budget committee is going over health portions of the governor's spending plan. Watch here. The full Legislature is back next week.

What we're watching today

The Maine congressman is behind a growing push to send Ukraine fighter jets. Friday is the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and defense officials are worried that President Vladimir Putin is gearing up to order a spring offensive. The U.S. has already sent some $75 billion in aid to Ukraine during the war, while the administration of President Joe Biden reversed itself last month to send tanks in partnership with European allies.

Now, there is a new debate about whether the Biden administration should meet Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's request for F-16 fighter jets. At the heart of this is U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine's 2nd District, led a bipartisan letter to Biden first reported by Politico last week arguing that Ukraine needs the jets to protect its airspace.

Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, dug his heels in on the issue while speaking to reporters on Thursday, with The Hill reporting that he said the jets were not the "key capability" for Ukraine and that the tanks will help more on the front lines. Republican senators, including Susan Collins of Maine, were lobbying the Pentagon to send jets early on in the conflict.

However, Pentagon officials have been discussing the idea in recent weeks and F-16 jets could be next up, Politico reported in January. That seems to match a bipartisan belief in Congress that F-16s will be part of the natural progression of U.S. aid going into the spring.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN that "momentum is growing" behind sending jets and missiles to help Ukraine defend itself. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said delegates to the Munich Security Conference were nearly unanimous that Ukraine troops should be trained on F-16s.

Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, urged the U.S. and European allies to "hurry up" in getting the tanks to Ukraine. He has not addressed the jets so far, but he echoed Biden administration officials in a statement on Friday that said Putin's war had failed.

"A year later, thanks to the unbreakable will of the Ukrainian people, Ukraine remains free and the West is more united than ever," he said.

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News and notes

📷 A Mega Millions sign displays the estimated jackpot of $1.35 billion at the Cranberry Super Mini Mart in Cranberry, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 12, 2023. (AP photo by Gene J. Puskar)

💰 We know Maine's share of taxes on the Mega Millions jackpot.

◉ The winner of the January jackpot came forward this week to claim the $1.35 billion prize as a one-time lump-sum payment through a Delaware company that allows for anonymity.

◉ The lump-sum payment is good news for Gov. Janet Mills' budget, meaning the state will bring in $51 million in one-time taxes on the prize during this two-year budget cycle. The federal government will take roughly $173 million.

◉ If the winning ticket were not purchased in Lebanon but a mile away in New Hampshire, the winner would be even richer due to our neighbor's lack of a state income tax. But the winner probably does not mind the tax bill.

4️⃣ Another effort to lengthen legislative terms probably isn't going anywhere.

◉ Four-term limits were imposed on Maine legislators in a 1993 referendum whose effect on State House politics is often hotly debated among observers. Both parties have skeptics on term limits, but they have long been a distinct minority, and there has been little movement toward changing them.

◉ A bipartisan group of sponsors led by Rep. Bruce White, D-Waterville, have a constitutional amendment proposal printed this week to increase term limits to four years, up from two years now. Sen. Brad Farrin, R-Norridgewock, is behind the bill, just as he was on the last attempt to do this back in 2019.

◉ But that try showed the hard road that these changes face in Augusta. Despite a bipartisan mix of sponsors including then-House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, it only won 20 votes in the House and was swiftly killed in the Senate without a roll-call vote.

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What we're reading

🌬️ Maine's offshore wind plan will take years to execute.

🔑 Bangor is close to passing a tenants-rights ordinance without rent control.

🏙️ Neon signs and new color schemes harken back to the Queen City's heyday. Here's your soundtrack.

🥶 It's going to be a frigid weekend in Maine.

📝 The BDN's Valerie Royzman, the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants, reflects on the anniversary of Russia's invasion.

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