AUGUSTA, Maine — Questions about the path from the current impasse to a state budget deal will start to be answered on Monday when the House of Representatives votes on a version of the budget that most everyone expects to fail.
Those questions haven’t changed much since early last Saturday morning, when House Republican Leader Ken Fredette declared a budget compromise reached by Democrats and Senate Republicans to be “dead on arrival.”
How entrenched are House Republicans against the compromise budget supported by the majority of the Appropriations Committee?
How solid is the House Democratic caucus in favor of the plan?
With the possibility of a government shutdown, how many lawmakers will vote against the state budget?
Will leadership finally be able to forge a compromise?
The doomed budget reports, which the Appropriations Committee produced in a 9-4 vote on June 5, have been under construction by the Legislature’s Revisor of Statutes office ever since. Representatives for both House Speaker Mark Eves and Senate President Mike Thibodeau said Friday that the competing majority and minority reports will likely be ready for the Legislature by Monday.
Thibodeau spokesman Jim Cyr also said Friday that budget negotiations have progressed in the past couple of days and that the Senate president expects a resolution to the negotiations soon.
“We hope to have something by Monday morning,” said Cyr. “If necessary, we’ll work through the weekend.”
Democrats and Republican Gov. Paul LePage spent Friday trying to ramp up pressure on each other with competing press releases. Eves struck one of the chief causes of the impasse — a disagreement about who should benefit from an income tax cut — in a written statement.
“We reject the trickle-down economics that has widened the gap between the rich and the poor in our state and country,” said Eves, referring to his party’s plan to target tax cuts to the middle class, even though the state’s top income tax rate kicks in at just $20,900 for an individual.
Senate Minority Leader Justin Alfond continued blaming the impasse in negotiations on House Republicans, whom he said are carrying out LePage’s bidding.
“The governor and House Republicans have dug in on a failed prescription for economic growth,” said Alfond.
LePage, for his part, reiterated the budget goals he shares with House Republicans: cutting taxes and welfare reform.
“We can achieve a more prosperous Maine, but we must be willing to take bold action. Pro-growth tax reform creates a stronger economic recovering, putting us in a better position to grow with more investment, more jobs, higher wages and a better standard of living,” said LePage.
Fredette, the House Republican leader who has led the effort to scuttle a budget deal reached in late May between Democrats and Senate Republicans, was noncommittal.
“I’m pleased negotiations are continuing on the budget as we all strive to find common ground,” he said. “We plan to work through the weekend, and it is my hope we can continue to do so in a productive manner and craft a budget that is in the best interest of the people of Maine.”
