Legislators return to Augusta on Tuesday for what are
expected to be lively days of railing against recent controversial action by
Governor LePage regarding the withholding of funding of the Goodwill-Hinckley
School and the decision of trustees to revoke their decision to hire House
Speaker Mark Eves as the new president.
Speaker Eves is threatening to sue the Governor. Attorney General Janet Mills is being
implored to investigate. Secretary of
State Matt Dunlap is being asked if the Governor can be declared mentally
incapacitated. And several legislators
are calling for the Governor’s impeachment.
For his part, the Governor maintains that Speaker Eves did not have the
professional qualifications to run the school; that the appointment was
politically motivated; that Speaker Eves is an active opponent of charter
schools; and, that Speaker Eves recently helped cut funding the Governor uses
to provide support to Goodwill-Hinckley and other charter schools.
But legislators are not returning to Augusta in order to
sound off on the Goodwill-Hinckley matter; they are returning to Augusta to
finish the legislative session and deal with more vetoes including an expected
veto of the 2016-2017 State Budget.
Before legislators left town last Wednesday night they voted
to extend the session by another five legislative days. No more extensions are allowed by law;
however, state law does allow legislators an additional day to consider vetoes
(Title 3, Section 2, Maine Revised Statutes).
SESSION
Senate & House – 10 a.m. Tuesday; other days and
convening times to be announced
LEGISLATION
As of today 1,449 bills have been printed.
BUDGET VETO SHOWDOWN
Governor LePage has until midnight this Monday to veto the
entire 2016-2017 State Budget (LD 1019).
His veto is expected and based on the enactment votes two weeks ago
(31-4 in the Senate and 105-42 in the House), a veto is likely to be overridden
and a shutdown of state government avoided.
VETO MESSAGES ARTICULATE PLAINLY
Here are more examples of Governor LePage’s directness in
articulating why he vetoed a particular piece of legislation. He has a reputation for reading every bill
before deciding to sign it, let it become law without his signature, or veto
it.
- “A hallmark of our administration has been to
make Maine a more business friendly state. This legislation attempts to do the
exact opposite by preventing the State of Maine from honoring commitments made
to businesses through the BETR program. The result is a law that unfairly
targets businesses that chose to make capital investments in both our state and
local communities.” Excerpt from June 22
veto message on LD 279. Veto overridden. - “This bill is completely unnecessary as it does
nothing to change the status quo. The information it requires the Department of
Education to publish has already been published and the protection it seeks to
provide to educators for discussing these issues already exists as part of
their collective bargaining agreements. The proper solution to the issue of
“opting out” of statewide assessments is to implement a new testing
system that eliminates the problematic issues involved while still complying
with federal law. The Department of Education has already begun the process to
do this with the collaboration of twenty educators from across Maine. Passing
this bill instead, will only cause further confusion among educators and
parents alike and interfere with Maine’s tradition of local control for
education.” Excerpt from June 22 veto message on LD 695. Veto sustained.
IN THE PIPELINE
Numerous unanimous and divided reports have been voted on at
the committee level are awaiting floor action in the Senate and House or are on
the Governor’s Desk awaiting his action.
Budget & Taxes
Improve tax expenditure transparency and
accountability (LD 941 – unanimous Ought to Pass as Amended committee report)
Healthcare
- Study the design and implementation of options
for a universal health care plan in the State (LD 384 – awaiting final action
in the Senate) - Protect Maine consumers in the individual health
insurance market (LD 1344 – awaiting final action in the Senate)
Labor
- Regarding sick days and benefits of an employee
who is terminated while on sick leave (LD 445 – Ought to Pass as Amended
report; on the Special Appropriations Table) - Promote privacy in social media accounts of
workers (LD 686 – unanimous Ought to Pass as Amended report; on Special
Appropriations Table) - Strengthen the right of a victim of sexual
assault or domestic violence to take necessary leave from employment (LD 921 –
amended to replace bill with increase in penalty; on the Special Appropriations
Table)
Miscellaneous
- Improve disclosure procedures in small claims
(LD 451 – unanimous Ought to Pass as Amended report) - Establish a commission to study transportation
funding reform (LD 706 – on the Study Table)