The Maine House of Representatives on Wednesday upheld Gov. Janet Mills' veto of a bill that would have eliminated a three strikes law targeting retail thefts.
The proposal would have barred charging a person with a felony if they had two prior retail theft convictions and the third was for stealing property worth less than $500.
Under current law the felony conviction is allowed if all three convictions occur within a 10-year period.
A majority of Democrats supported the bill, arguing that felony convictions for petty crimes go too far and impede the convicted person's ability to seek housing and employment.
But Mills, a Democrat and former prosecutor, argued that such a law could worsen retail thefts at a time when Maine is experiencing an uptick.
"This is a serious problem in Maine and L.D. 2246 will do nothing to help," the governor wrote in her veto message. "In fact, it's arguable that it will make it worse."
She also noted that such a law would be an outlier in New England and that Vermont lawmakers recently moved to toughen shoplifting penalties.
The governor also said text of the bill was only provided two days before the public hearing and that it lacked input from the public and review by the Criminal Law Advisory Commission.
On Tuesday 59 lawmakers voted to override the governor's veto, but it was short of the two-thirds needed to do so.
