Democrats controlling the Maine Legislature on Tuesday advanced a $121 million spending bill designed to fill a gap in the state's Medicaid program, but a lack of Republican support could delay reimbursement payments to health care providers.
Democrats took preliminary votes on the proposal Tuesday afternoon, moving the bill in the House, 73-71, and in the Senate, 20-14. However, neither margin is close to the two-thirds support needed to enact the stopgap bill as an emergency. Additional votes on the bill are on hold until Feb. 25.
Republicans withheld their support even though their members on the budget writing committee supported the proposal last week. They blamed Democrats for passing previous state budgets without their support and asserted that they were steamrolled by the majority party during the late-night vote by the budget committee last week.
"You created this problem. You folks did it all on your own," said Sen. Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner during the Senate debate on Tuesday.
Democrats, meanwhile, claimed Republicans abandoned the bipartisan budget deal and sought to blame them for any delays in Medicaid payments to providers. Senate President Matthea Daughtry, D-Brunswick, said that Republicans continued to tack on demands to a straightforward spending plan.
"We have entertained and had an honest conversation on all of their proposals, but for every agreement there have been more and more demands," Daughtry said. "There is a difference between a negotiation and a list of demands. They haven’t offered legitimate reasons not to support this budget. I hope my Republican colleagues realize the harm this holdup causes and pass this budget with us."
It is common for the legislature's budget committee to negotiate spending bills out of public view and for both parties to blame one another if those talks fall apart. The rhetoric around this proposal followed that trend. Last week's vote took place after midnight and followed an afternoon of closed-door talks. Every Republican member of the committee who attended the meeting voted for the proposal, but they declined to do so when the bill came up in the House and Senate.
The consequences for hewing to Maine's opaque budgeting tradition could have harmful implications. The Mills administration announced Tuesday that failing to achieve a supermajority to enact the spending bill immediately would result in delayed and capped payments to hospitals and other health providers who treat Medicaid recipients.
Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, put the blame squarely on Republicans, who she accused of "operating under the illusion" that they bargained in good faith.
"If they continue their opposition and do not support enactment of the supplemental budget, Republicans will force the Maine Department of Health and Human Services into the extraordinary position of having to cap payments to health care providers," she said. "I want to be clear: there is absolutely no need to obstruct a 2/3 passage of this bill. It will only hurt Maine people."
The stalemate could also have implications for the debate over the governor's $11.6 billion spending plan for the next biennium beginning July 1. The state's budget for that period must be law by July 1 to avoid a government shutdown. In the past, that has meant budget talks that stretch well into late June as lawmakers barely avoid a shutdown. In recent years, however, Democrats have used their majorities to pass the budget on their own and by late March. Bills that pass with a simple majority go into effect after 90 days after the legislature adjourns, while those with supermajorities — two-thirds support — go into effect as soon as the governor signs it into law.
The so-called majority budgets have riled Republicans who say they've been carved out of the budget process. Now, however, they're arguing that Democrats are responsible for the difficult budget situation and that they won't support another spending plan with significant concessions.
