AUGUSTA, Maine - Whether Gov. Paul LePage intended to veto all 19 bills sitting on his desk or not, Democrats and others are now cheering their passage. They've already begun issuing press releases declaring that the bills are now law.
One of the most contentious bills in the pile is an amended version of LD 369. It provides General Assistance to asylum seekers for up to two years. Its supporters say it will provide relief to more than 1,000 people who are lawfully present in Maine.
Gov. LePage has long been expected to block any attempt to provide General Assistance to asylum seekers. And in an online post Wednesday morning the Maine Peoples' Alliance called the governor's misstep an "epic constitutional error" and a "stunning reversal of fortunes for 1,000 asylum seekers and their families."
"This is a massive, massive victory that will literally keep families and children off the streets, which is incredibly important," says Ben Chin, the progressive advocacy group's political engagement director. "But the second thing is I think it underscores the dramatic irrelevance of our governor, to the point where he cannot even exercise the basic functions of his job, like keeping track of how many days he has to veto a bill."
For Gov. LePage, the idea of providing state General Assistance to immigrants seeking asylum is out of the question. He has repeatedly said that elderly and disabled Mainers on wait lists for assistance should be the priority for limited state resources and that the federal government should provide for those seeking asylum.
In addition, this is what he said at a news conference last week: "What nobody wants to talk about is 70 percent - 70 percent - of the asylum seekers are sent home. That is not the way we run good governance."
It's unclear where the governor got that statistic, but the director of the Maine Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, which represents asylum seekers in court, says the figure is wrong. And immigration advocates say it's another example of how the governor has scape-goated immigrants in the ongoing debate over GA.
Gov. LePage typically refers to them as "illegal aliens" even though they are lawfully present in the United States. And he's criticized legislative leaders for being soft on them.
"Well, I think LD 369 is, again, one of the most important bills that we passed this session - you know, it got very, very broad bipartisan support, from Democrats and Republicans," says Democratic Rep. Drew Gattine, of Westbrook, who co-chairs the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee.
"This is a really important bill for the future of Maine that's going to allow cities and towns to continue to support people while they're waiting on decisions on their work authorization from the federal government," Gattine says. "These people are critical to the future of the success of Maine's economy and I'm excited that it's going to go into law now."
In recent weeks, fearing that lawmakers would be unable to override the expected veto from the governor on the General Assistance bill, city councils in Portland and Lewiston voted to continue providing housing and food assistance to current asylum seekers, but to cut off aid to any new applicants because of the potential cost to taxpayers.
Portland has about 900 asylum seekers. Lewiston has about 200. Gattine says the bill includes about $3 million in funding each year to reimburse municipalities for about 70 percent of the cost of the aid. "You know, it is a very, very small amount of money. I was doing some back of the envelope math yesterday. It's less than half of a tenth of a percent in the state budget."
Passage of the bill should come as welcome news to the cities of Portland and Lewiston, which will be able to stretch their dollars further. But officials in both cities said they were not ready to celebrate just yet. They say it's premature to comment until they receive further clarification on the status of the legislation.
Meanwhile, the bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Amy Volk, of Scarborough, says she's also waiting for the experts to weigh in. "I'm not an attorney myself or a constitutional scholar in any way, so I'm going to leave it up to those people," Volk says. "I'm sure it's going to get worked out, but if it means that it has become law then I've got to tell you I feel really, really good about it."
Volk says the bill is an acknowledgement that Maine needs young, hardworking and skilled immigrants to bolster its aging workforce. On the other hand, she says, it also demonstrates compassion.
