AUGUSTA, Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage lashed out Democrats in the House and Senate today for refusing to back his plan to create additional law enforcement positions to address the state's drug problem.
The governor said Maine voters should be outraged by the lawmakers' indifference.
"If you're not angry, you should be," LePage said. "You should be disgusted with the behavior of some of these legislators that want to continue to ignore the killing of our children. They are weak on drugs. They simply don't want to deal with he problem."
LePage's plan seeks about $5 million to fund four new district court judges, seven investigative agents in the Department of Public Safety and four new assistant attorney general positions.
He says those resources are needed to help combat the growing drug problem, which poses an increasing threat to Maine's public safety.
Democrats say LePage's efforts won't truly address the problem because there isn't enough focus on drug treatment, or the added costs of incarcerating the anticipated boost in offenders.