On a partisan day, Maine lawmakers reached two major bipartisan deals. Given the arduous votes on abortion and other hot topics over the last week or so, you would be forgiven for thinking that a hand-holding moment between the parties was unlikely to happen in this iteration of the Maine Legislature.
Yet that is what we got around 3:45 a.m. Wednesday when lawmakers made a deal on tax relief. The deal clinched Republican support for a Democratic-led spending package that funds priorities of paid family and medical leave, plus a child care overhaul from Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash.
It was a reversal from Saturday, when Democrats looked ready to go it alone on a version of Gov. Janet Mills’ $900 million spending package. The price tag on the lawmakers’ budget deal was not immediately available early Wednesday, but it looks to be just shy of that overall spending mark. More details should come later Wednesday.
It was not the only big deal that lawmakers made in the past 24 hours. In another surprising move, the House of Representatives voted down a solar industry-backed bill to reduce the state’s generous incentives for the sector. After that, it easily approved a Republican-led bill backed by Public Advocate Bill Harwood that would allow utility regulators to rein those subsidies in.
While rank-and-file lawmakers had been optimistic about reaching a deal on Republican demands for tax relief, talks on the subject seemed stalled into the weekend. The final product included a hike in the amount of pensions subject to Maine income tax that had been floated by House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor. It was the linchpin in the deal, making it likely to pass with overwhelming support in the closely divided House.
The dueling solar bills had been part of a public relations and lobbying battle between the industry and manufacturers. The Senate still needs to weigh in on this subject, and it has been favoring the industry-backed bill. But they might be hesitant to deadlock with the House on the issue after the incentives drove a recent rate hike for customers of Maine’s big utilities.
Just like the time Faulkingham and House Republicans cut a deal with Democrats on heating aid, expect an archconservative element of the caucus to defect on the budget, especially after the majority party rolled Republicans on a controversial abortion-rights bill that narrowly got through the House on Tuesday. The solar industry will keep working as well. There are more fights ahead, but these deals were major developments.