AUGUSTA, Maine - The clock is ticking for the Maine Legislature, as it mush have a budget in place by the end of the month to avoid a disruption in state services. And the pressure has intensified, due to a rift between Republicans at the State House. A plan developed over the weekend by Democrats and Senate Republicans on the Appropriations Committee has gained no support from Republicans in the Maine House.
There really aren't just two political parties in the Maine Legislature - there are four. House Democrats don't always agree with Senate Democrats, and, as was clear over the weekend, House Republicans do not always agree with Senate Republicans.
House GOP Floor Leader Ken Fredette, from Newport, told reporters that his House colleagues will not go along with the Senate GOP on the budget issue. "Our caucus stands resolute in passing a budget that reflects the principles that Republicans believe in, such as income tax reduction, welfare reform and reduced spending," Fredette said.
And Senate President Mike Thibodeau, a Republican from Winterport, says the tax reform being advocated by Fredette will go nowhere because Democrats will not agree to a cut in the top income tax rate. "They’re not going there, particularly under the distribution that is being proposed. So if there is a pathway to finding that, great, count me in."
Thibodeau says that, in order to reach a budget deal, compromises will have to be made by all of the four caucuses. He says the deal he has struck with Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves should be seen as an important concession from Democrats. It calls for a constitutional amendment that would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to raise the state income tax. "This is as big a deal for our state as we have seen in this building in literally decades," Thibodeau says.
But that argument does not impress GOP House Leader Fredette. He says the budget is a separate issue and that all Republicans should get behind efforts to reduce income taxes and reform welfare. "That’s what we got elected on, not some constitutional amendment that popped up out of nowhere in the last 24 hours."
Fredette says he has been cut out of the budget talks between Democrats and Senate Republicans. But both Thibodeau and Eves say that all of the budget issues have been discussed by leaders of all four caucuses for months. And Eves says everything is on the table until a budget can be finalized that has two-thirds support in the House and Senate so it can take effect immediately. That's also the margin that will be needed to override a likely veto by Gov. Paul LePage.
"There are a number of tax areas we are talking about - income, sales, meals, lodging, corporate, estate - all that stuff," Eves says. "We are going to be compromising and negotiating something that is good for the people of Maine."
Eves says while the four party caucuses are staking out their positions on the various issues in the budget, he believes that all share a clear goal: an agreement that will avoid a shutdown of all but essential state services come July 1. "The prospect of a state shutdown - that’s what some folks are talking about - you would never hear me consider or talk about that," he says. "That is not an option."
And Fredette agrees that when the rhetoric cools a bit, and the parties begin to truly negotiate, a compromise will be reached. "I don’t think there is any need for there to be a government shutdown. There is plenty of time to work the process, and we will do that."
For a budget to talk effect immediately, it will need 101 votes in the House. Democrats have 78 members, and the Republicans have 68, and five members are unenrolled. If all the Democrats and independents got behind a budget, they'd still need the support of 18 Republicans.
On the Senate side, the math is easier. There are 20 Republicans and they only need three Democrats to reach a two-thirds margin.
