Republican lawmakers are calling on their Democratic colleagues and Gov. Janet Mills to act quickly to reverse Maine’s policies on transgender athletes after federal officials issued a “final warning” to the state.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education said April 11 is the final deadline for the Maine Department of Education to agree to accept a series of demands stemming from its recent investigation into the state. The agency has found Maine in violation of the non-discrimination law known as Title IX because schools allow transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports.
Republican legislative leaders said Tuesday that the warning letter gives Maine a narrow window to avoid losing federal funding. But assistant House Republican leader Rep. Katrina Smith of Palermo said the Democrats who control the Legislature have yet to schedule public hearings on multiple bills sponsored by Republicans that could bring the state into compliance with Trump administration demands.
“Let’s get this into committee, let’s have these conversations, let’s solve this problem,” Smith said during a press conference. “Let’s save the state of Maine from losing the funding that we desperately — in these times, especially — desperately need. So, we’re just calling on them to get moving. Republicans are ready to do the work.”
Republicans had introduced about a dozen bills dealing with transgender students, athletes and parental rights even before Maine was thrust into the national spotlight on the issue. The Trump administration has already moved to cut off funding to multiple programs in Maine only to reverse those decisions. But more cuts could be coming following investigations by both the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services.
But defenders of Maine’s current policy say the outcomes of those investigations were predetermined and that those findings were based not on the language but on the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title IX. That dispute is widely expected to be settled in the courts.
The Maine Principals’ Association, which oversees interscholastic athletics in Maine, has said that its policy complies with the Maine Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on “gender identity.” As a result, the principals association and one school district targeted by the Trump administration have said they cannot agree to the federal demands to ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports.
At least one of the bills proposed by Republicans would remove “gender identity” from the Maine Human Rights Act. But the bill has yet to be formally printed and referred to the committees that review all bills — in this case, likely the Judiciary Committee.
A spokesperson for Senate President Mattie Daughtry said committee chairs typically try to hold hearings on bills with similar subject matters at the same time “to make hearings more accessible for the public and make the committee’s work more streamlined.”
“This requires all bills to be in possession of the committee before scheduling,” Mary Catus wrote in response to a question about the timing of hearings on the Republican bills. “Chairs must process the many bills before them being very mindful of their full workload and given the fact that the Maine Legislature holds public hearings on every single bill. It is this critical work that allows committees to produce thoughtful reports that reflect the will of the Maine people for the full legislature.”
Mills has pushed back against Trump’s pressure campaign on Maine, suggesting that he cannot create laws via executive order and that Maine would fight his funding threats in court. Mills, whose Feb. 21 clash with Trump appears to have helped spark the administration’s focus on Maine, has also said this dispute is about state’s rights and executive power rather than transgender athletes.
When pressed on Maine’s policy, however, Mills has said that she expects “a full democratic debate” over the policy in the Legislature this session.
“It’s a legislative policy that’s been enacted and if they wish to change it they have the authority to change it,” Mills said last month. “But you don’t change it by [presidential] executive order or by wishing it differently.”
But Rep. Michael Soboleski, the Phillips Republican sponsoring the bill to remove the words “gender identity” from Maine’s non-discrimination law, urged Mills to get more involved — and for the Trump administration to give the state time to change its policy.
“Governor Mills, this is what you asked for, please support this legislation and circle your party behind its passage,” Soboleski said. “Additionally, to President Trump … please use your authority and influence to call for a halt to any further action against our great state until our Legislature completes its work and passes this important piece of legislation.”
It is unclear what will happen if and when that bill and others dealing with transgender rights make it to the full House and Senate for consideration. A recent poll of Mainers by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found that 64 percent of respondents opposed allowing athletes who were born male but identify as female to compete in girls’ or women’s sports.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
