Democratic leaders in the Maine Legislature say lawmakers have done their work in passing four bills that Gov. Paul LePage has raised concerns about – and that now it’s up to the administration to implement them. LePage failed to persuade Democrats to return to Augusta for a special session during a half-hour meeting Wednesday that was also attended by Republicans. The governor told a gathering in Richmond Wednesday evening that lawmakers simply refuse to work with him.
“I just left a meeting a few minutes ago and asked the Legislature to help me find the money for some bills they passed but they didn’t give me the money and they simply said: we’re outta here,” LePage said. “So either nothing gets done or we try to figure out what can we do legally with the laws that are on the state books.”
The laws the governor was referring to include measures that establish a a needle exchange program for opioid abusers, provide pay raises for workers at the Riverview Psychiatric Center, higher ambulance service reimbursements and $2.4 million for the state’s county jails.