AUGUSTA, Maine - The ongoing feud between Gov. Paul LePage and the Maine Legislature has taken a new turn. And the fight could find its way to the Maine Supreme Court. At issue is a disagreement over the rules in the state Constitution that govern the veto process, and Democrats say a misstep by LePage means that some 20 bills he opposes have now become law.
Gov. Paul LePage says he has already dealt with the 20 bills he doesn't support and will hand them over to the Legislature when they come back into session next week.
"I vetoed the bills," he says. "They're all vetoed, they need to be here for four days before they can act on them - it's in the Constitution."
But Democratic House Majority Leader Jeff McCabe says LePage has misread the Constitution and has actually lost his veto power over these bills. "The governor let his 10-day window expire, and because of that they're going to become law, and they'll become law without his signature," McCabe says.
Under the state Constitution, LePage has 10 days - excluding Sundays - to either sign or veto a bill passed by the Legislature. A failure to act by the end of that 10-day period results in the bill becoming law without the governor's signature.
In this case, the Legislature adjourned, or recessed, on June 30, but extended the session to July 16 to take up any remaining vetoes. LePage, however, believes that the adjournment gives him additional time to veto the bills and return them to the Legislature. He remains convinced that the Legislature's failure to file an adjournment order that specifically states its intended return gives him latitude.
LePage says, if challenged, he will petition the justices of the Maine Supreme Court to declare something called a "solemn occasion," and provide an opinion on the matter, which he says should be evident to all. "It's in the Constitution, it's Article 4, Part 3," LePage says. "It's very clear, very, very clear - even I can understand it and I'm French," LePage says.
"I'm not sure what the governor is attempting to do, I'm not sure if the governor is sure what he's attempting to do," says Dawn Hill, the assistant Senate Democratic leader. Hill says LePage's efforts to ensnare the Legislature in a protracted constitutional debate would be ill-advised.
And Zach Heiden of the Maine chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union says LePage has only hurt himself in this case.
"These bills will now become law and the governor doesn't really have the choice to decide what laws to follow and what laws not to follow," Heiden says. "He is not a king. We have a system of government where the Legislature passes laws and the governor enforces them, and he's going to be responsible for following these laws whether he likes them or not."
Assistant Senate Majority Leader Andre Cushing sats the ongoing standoff with LePage is creating some uncertainty for GOP lawmakers who had a number of bills in their sights that they would have liked to have killed off. Now, he says, it's a legal matter that will pivot on advice from the Senate president's lawyer. "We've communicated with his legal counsel and are awaiting a response with his research on this to give us some direction," says Cushing.
Meanwhile, Cushing says Senate Republicans have been getting most of their information regarding LePage's vetoed bills from the media and have not yet officially heard from anyone in the governor's office on the matter.