Gov. Janet Mills will deliver her State of the Budget Address on Tuesday night, as she seeks over the next few months to win over lawmakers who have already aired concerns over her proposed mix of tax hikes and cuts to health programs to close a $450 million spending gap.
The Democratic governor in her final term released her $11.6 billion two-year budget plan earlier in January, with highlights including a $1 per pack increase to Maine’s cigarette tax alongside cuts to various Department of Health and Human Services programs. Those “targeted” reductions, additional taxes for private ambulances and pharmacies and higher fees for certain licenses — including fishing licenses and concealed handgun permits — are tough but will produce a balanced budget and allow for key investments, Mills said.
“These changes are not easy to make, and we do not propose them lightly, but we have tried to propose changes to programs that have not yet been implemented or are still early in their implementation in order to minimize disruption, rather than make changes in a blunt or careless fashion,” Mills wrote in her budget overview.
Mills is also using a supplemental budget this year to cover a $118 million MaineCare shortfall while proposing more funding in the two-year plan to stabilize the state’s Medicaid program. She highlighted investments such as giving $157 million for the state to keep fully funding 55 percent of education, maintaining 5 percent municipal revenue sharing and making Maine’s free community college initiative permanent.
Still, lawmakers and interest groups across the political spectrum have shared initial complaints about aspects of the governor’s budget. Mills will almost certainly acknowledge that during her speech to the Legislature that begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday inside the House chamber.
The Bangor Daily News will be streaming Mills’ speech online.
