AUGUSTA, Maine — A group of Republicans, including several lawmakers, filed a people’s veto effort Tuesday looking to overturn the $11.3 billion state budget that Democrats passed over the minority party’s objections last week.
Rep. Gary Drinkwater, R-Milford, who is leading the effort, shared the people’s veto application Tuesday afternoon and it was filed with the office of Secretary of State Shenna Bellows earlier in the day. A Bellows spokesperson confirmed the office received it and noted the applicants have until June 19 to submit at least 67,682 signatures of registered voters to put in on the ballot.
The people’s veto effort has the potential to cause a state government shutdown. If it makes the ballot, that would put the law on hold through the November election, unless an earlier statewide special election was held for it. Qualifying will be a stiff challenge for the petitioners given they have less than 90 days.
Drinkwater acknowledged the “total chaos” that his move could cause but argued the state could revert back to its most recent two-year budget while the referendum plays out and said he has heard from a “tremendous” number of residents who have said “enough is enough.”
“We are disciplined, and we’ve got the funds to do it,” Drinkwater told a reporter Tuesday, declining to share fundraising sources but adding they “are well above six figures.”
After more than a month of back-and-forth debates led to no breakthrough on a short-term budget to fix a $118 million MaineCare deficit, the Democratic-controlled Legislature last week finally passed an $11.3 billion budget that Gov. Janet Mills then signed to cover the MaineCare gap for one year while leaving about $127 million in unspent revenue for lawmakers to decide on spending before a June statutory adjournment date.
It was the latest example of Democrats passing a budget by a simple majority for it to take effect 90 days later rather than immediately if Republicans gave it a two-thirds majority. GOP lawmakers argued for MaineCare work requirements and other limits they said would rein in costs. Democrats pointed to the need to get MaineCare money out the door amid hospitals and health providers starting to cut and limit services amid the budget stalemate.
Under a section that lists voters who should receive notice of veto proceedings, Drinkwater’s application has the names of five Republicans: Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith of Palermo, Rep. Mike Soboleski of Phillips, Rep. Kimberly Haggan of Hampden, Sen. David Haggan of Hampden and former Rep. Heidi Sampson of Alfred.
Soboleski, who has a political action committee and lost in last year’s 2nd Congressional District primary, said volunteers must move quickly on gathering signatures because “the clock is ticking.”
During a weekly Republican caucus news conference Tuesday, Smith said she was “not prepared” to comment on the veto effort. Other legislative leaders largely declined to comment, though House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, called it a “tool in the toolbox.”
Spokespeople for House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, and Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, did not comment Tuesday but directed a reporter to the secretary of state’s office for more information. In broader remarks about the budget process, Daughtry told reporters she continues to seek bipartisan consensus on next steps after seeking compromises with Republicans on the failed supplemental budget.
“I wasn’t willing to play chicken anymore with people’s health care,” Daughtry said Tuesday.
