Presiding Officers issue statements regarding supplemental budget vote
Senate Republicans walk away from supplemental budget compromise and kill emergency funding bill
Without ⅔ passage, the supplemental budget bill fails
AUGUSTA – On Thursday, presiding officers shared statements after Senate Republicans voted against the supplemental budget and killed the compromise amendment. After Senate Republicans voted against the measure today in a vote 22-10, the bill died, failing to provide critical emergency funding.
“Today, the Senate had an opportunity to come together to protect Maine’s rural healthcare providers and support our forest products industry. Throughout this process, I remained hopeful that Maine lawmakers could unite and provide a different path forward from the partisan gridlock we see in Washington. At every stage of this process, I convened stakeholders to see what bipartisan compromise we could come up with that still met the needs of Maine people. I believe those efforts were reflected in our ability to get House Republicans, House Democrats, Senate Democrats, and Republican Senators Moore and Bennett on board. While we had hoped for a bipartisan path forward, that didn’t happen. But Democrats remain committed to doing the work, finding solutions and standing up for the people we serve. We’ll always have Mainers’ backs,” said Senate President Mattie Daughtry.
“Earlier this week, there was a 31-2 vote on the proposal negotiated by legislative leaders. For Senate Republicans to now sink this budget based on a litany of excuses is the very definition of twisting oneself into a pretzel. They should have stood by the 31-2 vote, followed the strong bipartisan support in the House, and sent the supplemental budget to the Governor's desk,” said House Speaker Ryan Fecteau.
The Stakes of the Supplemental Budget:
Closing MaineCare Funding Gap: Provides one-time funding to close the MaineCare gap of $118 million due to rising healthcare costs and decreased financial support from the federal government. Half of all Maine children and one in three Maine people have MaineCare coverage, with a higher percentage of rural Maine people relying on MaineCare.
Funding Spruce Budworm Remediation: This budget initiative provides $2 million in funding for spruce budworm remediation to protect Maine’s forests. The Maine Forest Service, coordinating with landowners and other partner groups, will oversee implementation of the response program. A severe spruce budworm outbreak in Maine could cause a reduction of 494,000 cords of annual wood supply, which is equivalent to forty percent of the 2021 spruce and fir harvest. This could result in a loss of 3,856 direct and indirect Maine jobs and have a $794 million economic impact.
Compromise Amendment:
Closing the MaineCare funding gap and funding spruce budworm remediation were among a small list of emergency items included in the final supplemental budget. The supplemental budget passed in a bipartisan, unanimous committee vote early last month, after weeks of negotiations. During the negotiations in the weeks that followed, Democrats agreed to these proposals:
A third-party review of how the Department of Health and Human Services delivers services to ensure greater accountability for MaineCare costs
Repeal of the Easy Enrollment program, an underutilized enrollment tool for CoverME and MaineCare
The implementation of a cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) of 1.95% for fiscal year 2024-2025 for reimbursement rates for essential support and direct care workers
Reform to the General Assistance program deployed by municipalities to support emergency needs, capping the use of GA for housing to 12 months within 36 months
Annual training mandates for administrators of GA, requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to make clear to these administrators how to use the program and educate them on other resources available when GA is not. This reform will help those in need to be able to access the programs for which they qualify
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