Gov. Paul LePage’s attempt to block President Barack Obama’s authority to designate a national monument in the North Woods region won another narrow victory.
The bill passed the Senate 18-17 following its passage in the House last week, 77-71.
Sen. Andre Cushing, a Republican from Newport, says it’s important for the state to take a stand.
“What we are talking about here is surrendering our destiny of our forests in this state to a federal bureaucracy,” he says.
But the bill’s constitutionality has been questioned by several experts that say the president’s authority cannot be constrained by state law.
Sen. Roger Katz, a republican for Augusta, opposed the bill, saying it will likely end up being declared unconstitutional after hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills.
“I am not a constitutional lawyer but the ones that appeared before the committee on this bill were in agreement that this bill is likely unconstitutional,” he says.
