There is one path — and one day — left to finalize a state budget and avert a government shutdown. If legislative negotiators can reach agreement on a spending plan and both chambers of the State House approve it Friday, it could be on the governor’s desk hours before a new budget must be in place.
If Gov. Paul LePage signs the spending plan, which must be approved by two-thirds of lawmakers, a costly and unnecessary crisis will be averted. Alternately, if he were to immediately veto it, lawmakers could potentially override the veto before midnight on June 30 to keep the government operational.
LePage, however, has said that he will take the full 10 days to act on a budget, unless the spending plan meets his standards, which are rigid and have been previously rejected by lawmakers.
The governor’s sporadic involvement in budget negotiations, unreasonable demands and continued threats and insults to legislative leaders are pushing Maine toward a shutdown.
A government shutdown would hurt Maine people. Poor people. Rich people. Business owners. Young. Old.
There would be no winners, only losers.
[Here’s what happens when state government shuts down]
A shutdown would not change the ultimate outcome for a budget crafted through negotiations and compromise, but vetoed by LePage. Because a two-thirds vote is needed to pass a budget now, a veto from LePage could be overridden.
A shutdown, at this point, is about power and hubris, not the good of Maine and its people.
House Speaker Sara Gideon, a Democrat, and Senate President Mike Thibodeau, a Republican, have been working on a budget compromise for weeks. A 3 percent surtax on annual income above $200,000, which was approved by voters in November, is the main focus of negotiations. The revenue collected is to be directed to K-12 education, moving the state to funding 55 percent of these costs, a level that was approved by voters in 2004.
Democratic leaders want to maintain the new education funding, projected to be $150 million a year, but have agreed to lower the surtax to 1.75 percent on income over $300,000. They would also raise the sales tax and state lodging tax.
Republicans, including the governor, want the surtax repealed. In their latest proposal, Senate Republicans have proposed $146 million in education funding over the next two years. This funding would come from raising the lodging tax and by reallocating some other state funding.
LePage attacked Thibodeau for the lodging tax increase, even though the governor included the same tax increase in his budget plan. Thibodeau and Gideon, like real leaders, are looking for areas of compromise, which many in their party may not like but realize are necessary to come to a budget agreement.
Two points are important to remember: All proposals currently being considered would lower income taxes for Maine’s highest income earners. Second, Maine voters — not Democrats, not Republicans — put the surtax in place.
And, a third bears repeating: A shutdown is not theoretical. It is not about proving a point, or winning a game of chicken, as LePage has characterized it.
It is breakdown of the compact between Maine people and their elected officials that would result in real harm to real people. Many state workers won’t get paid. Construction projects will stall. Business openings and expansions will be delayed. Court hearings will be postponed, leaving people in jail. Benefit payments may not be made.
It is a vast understatement to say that time is running out. State House leaders must agree on a spending plan and put it to a vote in the House and Senate on Friday.
Then, the governor must decide if he wants to drag Maine into the abyss.