AUGUSTA — In a nearly hourlong news conference Friday, Republican Gov. Paul LePage unleashed a barrage of criticism against his Democratic rivals in the Legislature — at one point suggesting Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, be placed in a “playpen.”

“I just had lunch with sixth-graders,” LePage said, “and they are more mature than the leadership in the Democratic Party.”

Alfond, the Senate’s minority leader and a former Senate president, said LePage’s comments were what he’s come to expect from a governor known nationally for his bombastic statements.

“The state of Maine saw the governor once again throw a temper tantrum,” Alfond said. “I don’t know how anything that he said today will help one piece of public policy, create one new job, make Maine a more attractive place to bring capital or help the most vulnerable Mainers.”

House Majority Leader Jeff McCabe, D-Skowhegan, who attended the news conference, responded shortly afterward, saying LePage appeared “unglued and unhinged.”

The backdrop at the State House also involved lawmakers on the Legislature’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee, who are working to craft a new state budget that must be passed into law by June 30. 

LePage suggested that a state government shutdown, which would occur if the lawmakers cannot enact a budget, was not beyond the realm of possibility. He said if that were to occur, however, the blame would rest squarely on the shoulders of Democrats.

But McCabe said lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were still negotiating and that Democrats remain at the table as they attempt to reach a budget deal that would gain support from two-thirds of the lawmakers in the House and Senate.

“In divided government, I think it’s important that we really sit down and listen to each other and have those open discussions,” McCabe said. “It’s equally as important to share our values and our views as well as listen.”

McCabe said the governor’s threats and insults were not particularly helpful to that process.  

“Here we are, we are looking at a deadline looming, so let’s be realistic here. If we don’t have a budget by early next week, the state’s going to have problems,” McCabe said. “So now we are sitting down, we are talking, we are trying to figure out what it is going to take to pass a budget to continue to run state government — and I think there is going to be some give and take there.”

LePage called the unusual and impromptu news conference to discuss three issues, including a recent decision by the Legislature’s Energy Committee to table action on a LePage nomination to the state’s Public Utilities Commission.

LePage accused Democratic lawmakers of playing politics, but he then promised to veto any bill that reached his desk that was sponsored by a Democratic lawmaker during the three remaining years of his term as governor.

He said that promise pertains to the state’s budget bill as well, which is sponsored by Rep. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, the House chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee.

“I put in a budget,” LePage said, “and that budget died a long time ago. So I don’t know what the budget is going to look like, I don’t know what’s in it and what’s out of it. But I will tell you this: It’s going down.”

The governor also acknowledged Republican lawmakers in the Senate were not fully on board with him regarding a tax reform proposal that is part of LePage’s $6.57 billion, two-year state budget proposal.  

LePage set forth a plan to dramatically reduce the state’s income tax rate by broadening and expanding the state’s sales tax to 6.5 percent. The proposal also involves spending cuts.  

LePage also proposed putting a statewide ballot question before voters to amend the state’s Constitution to eliminate the income tax entirely.

That proposal failed to gain the two-thirds support in the Legislature it needed to go to the voters, and LePage said it was because Democrats don’t want to give voters a chance to weigh in on the matter.

“If the Democrats are going to disenfranchise the Maine people, then the governor of Maine is going to make sure every bill that comes down from the House and Senate with a Democratic sponsor is going to have to have a two-thirds vote, because I’m going to veto every one, and I did a bunch this morning,” LePage said. “The Maine people deserve to have a say in the income tax, and until (Democrats) lift it, that’s my leverage.”

LePage was joined by House Minority Leader Ken Fredette, R-Newport, but notably absent from the news conference were any of the majority Republicans from the Senate.

LePage acknowledged that a number of Republicans in the Senate, including Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason, R-Lisbon, and Senate President Mike Thibodeau, R-Winterport, had voiced opposition to increasing and expanding the state’s sales tax.

“You really turn everyday Mainers who are trying to do everything they can to get by into a tax collector for the government,” Mason told reporters last week. “Frankly, that’s not what Republicans are interested in.”

When asked if he felt like Senate Republicans were “on board” with him, LePage said, “No.” When asked why, LePage said, “I don’t know.” He said that during a recent meeting with Republican senators, they remained silent.

“They won’t talk,” LePage said. “I had that meeting the other day with the Republicans and not one single word was said. So I don’t know. They won’t tell me. I don’t hear anything from the Senate Republicans.”

On Friday, Thibodeau did issue a one-sentence statement after LePage’s news conference.

“Senate Republicans have been working and will continue to work with everyone at the State House who is committed to passing a budget that will grow Maine’s economy and reduce the tax burden in our state,” Thibodeau said.

Alfond also said that the top leaders in both parties in the House and the Senate were committed to funding state government and avoiding any kind of government shutdown.

“We all have that commitment — to put a balanced budget, that is paid for and puts the best interests of Maine people on (LePage’s) desk, well before any sort of July 1 date,” Alfond said. “That’s our job and we are going to get it done.” 

LePage also said Friday that Speaker of the House Mark Eves, D-North Berwick, “should go back to where he was born.” 

Eves, the son of a military chaplain, was born in California but spent much of his childhood in Kentucky. He has been a Maine resident for more than a decade, according to a release from his staff.

“Our focus remains on passing a responsible and fair budget that is fully paid for now and into the future,” Eves said in a prepared statement, disregarding LePage’s jab.

Under Maine law, the Legislature is set to adjourn for this year on June 17, but could work beyond that if they fail to enact a new budget by then.

sthistle@sunjournal.com