Politics
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Gov. Janet Mills signed into law Monday an addition to the $11.3 billion state budget headlined by a higher cigarette tax and various compromises following disagreements among Democrats.
The governor signaled last week her intent to sign the budget bill that adds more than $320 million through 2027, though a fiscal note said savings result in a net cost of about $118 million. Her fellow Democrats who control the Legislature passed the addition without Republican votes, but the measure initially ran into a bit of Democratic pushback in the House.
Six progressives joined with House Republicans to initially help defeat the budget addition in a Wednesday morning vote, but after the Senate approved it along party lines, all but one of the Democratic holdouts switched and helped enact the addition later in the day.
Rep. Sophie Warren, D-Scarborough, remained the sole member of the majority party to vote against the plan, with her and the initial opponents criticizing the move to increase the state’s $2 cigarette tax to $3.50 per pack — higher than the $3 rate Mills had proposed — and add other items, such as a 5.5 percent streaming services tax, as regressive and hurting poorer residents. Republicans had telegraphed their opposition by saying they would never vote to support higher taxes on Maine residents.
Lawmakers also refused to include Mills’ proposals to cut child care worker stipends by $30 million, end food stamp benefits for noncitizens and add new ambulance and pharmacy taxes to balance the budget. They recommended winding down Maine’s free community college initiative after this year’s class of graduating high school students, among other policy disagreements.
Mills said in a statement Monday that “with so much uncertainty coming from Washington, and so much uncertainty in our economy, maintaining fiscal restraint has never been more important.”
“The budget bill enacted by the Legislature, like all lawmaking, is the product of various tradeoffs and compromises,” Mills said, adding that she does not agree with every provision but appreciated the work of the Legislature’s budget committee on the spending plan.
Members also used about $120 million to fill the second year of a MaineCare deficit. Other investments include $6.5 billion for nursing home rate reforms that unlock $12.2 million in federal funds, $6 million for crime victim services and $42 million for a 4 percent funding boost to Maine’s public universities, among various items in the budget addition.
The Legislature is expected to return Wednesday to the State House to vote on whether to fund an array of additional measures that members passed but have not yet directed dollars toward before adjourning for the year. An additional in Augusta will deal with any vetoes from Mills.
