AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine lawmakers came to a late tax relief deal early Wednesday, when the Legislature’s budget committee nearly unanimously advanced a spending package at a rough cost of more than $800 million.
One-party budgets were on the verge of becoming a new standard in the State House after Democrats passed a $9.9 billion package in March on the heels of another one two years earlier. Over the weekend, it looked like Democrats were planning to bypass Republicans when they took a series of votes on a proposed addition to that budget.
By the end, Democrats agreed to include several bipartisan initiatives in a major breakthrough. Chief among them was a bill from House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, that would raise Maine’s pension exemption from $30,000 to $35,000, then continue raising it into the future according to the maximum Social Security benefit.
It fell far short of Republicans’ initial demand of $200 million in tax relief, and Democrats rolled several of their partisan priorities into the budget. But only Rep. Jack Ducharme, R-Madison, voted against the plan early Thursday. The document was sent to the chamber floors for likely approval in a late-night series of votes that closed at 3:45 a.m. Wednesday.
“We pushed hard for a lot of things that we felt very strongly about, and I’m grateful that we have come together,” Sen. Rick Bennett, R-Oxford, said.
The total cost of the spending and transfers in the document was not immediately available early Wednesday, but Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, the committee’s co-chair, said it was between $800 million and $900 million. An updated figure comprising late updates is expected on Thursday.
The budget will add roughly $30 million per year to cover a child care overhaul led by Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash. It also adds roughly $25 million in start-up funding for a paid family and medical leave program that passed along party lines and includes funds for an amended child tax credit plan to adjust Maine’s $300 credit based on inflation.
Numerous items earned bipartisan support, such as the pension change expected to cost $48 million by the 2026 fiscal year, $1.5 million for rural addiction recovery housing for families and a fix to Maine’s property tax freeze program for seniors.
“I want to note the amazing, wonderful investment … in the Maine people that this is going to engender,” Rep. Melanie Sachs, D-Freeport, the other budget panel co-chair.
The plan differs from Gov. Janet Mills’ original $900 million proposal by striking some funding for roads and bridges after lawmakers on the Transportation Committee inked a landmark deal to dedicate some tax revenue toward that purpose. It also includes the governor’s new “Dirigo Business Incentive,” a souped-up business tax break program that has faced criticism from the left and right.
The committee also voted to include $12 million to support offshore wind projects in the Gulf of Maine, a move several Republicans questioned after Mills vetoed a bill aimed at boosting offshore wind port development over it containing labor protections she opposes.
The breakthrough came hours after a fractured House vote on Mills’ signature abortion-rights bill on Wednesday. Any budget gridlock in the House and Senate threatened to derail House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross’ biggest priority, a tribal-rights bill that Mills opposes.
It will need a two-thirds vote in both chambers to survive a governor’s veto and barely passed by that margin in the House last week with the help of 21 Republicans.
BDN writer Michael Shepherd contributed to this report.