AUGUSTA, Maine - The Maine House of Representatives Monday upheld Gov. Paul LePage's veto of a bill that would have funded voter-approved Medicaid expansion in Maine.
The vote was 85 to 60, not enough to reach the two-thirds threshold necessary to override the governor's veto.
Lawmakers are back in Augusta to consider about three-dozen bills LePage has vetoed, along with bonds and legislation held up by politics.
The Republican governor has chastised lawmakers for trying to spend all of Maine's $141 million surplus funds. Meanwhile, the ongoing special session is costing Maine taxpayers roughly $40,000 per day.
LePage also wants lawmakers to slow down future voter-approved increases to the state's minimum wage. Such conservative efforts have failed this year, but LePage's proposal has become a bargaining chip.
Lawmakers are holding up widely supported tax code reform legislation and a bond package.
This story will be updated.