AUGUSTA — House Speaker Mark Eves said Monday that he will attempt to move the state budget forward this week by calling for a vote on a compromise budget bill.
Eves spokeswoman Jodi Quintero said in communications with reporters on Monday that amendments to the budget are being drafted by the Revisor of Statutes office and that the House is expected to vote Tuesday on the budget as it was voted out of the Appropriations Committee early the morning of June 6.
The committee’s budget includes two versions: a “majority report” that was supported by Democrats and Senate Republicans and a more conservative “minority report” that is favored by House Republicans.
According to recent statements by legislative leaders, both versions of the Appropriations Committee budget are doomed because each contains provisions that won’t garner two-thirds support in both chambers of the Legislature, which is necessary for the budget to go into effect on July 1.
The majority report was originally agreed upon on the condition that Democrats would support an amendment to the Maine Constitution that would require a two-thirds majority vote to increase the state income tax at any time in the future. Democrats have since said that the provision — which would have been contingent on voter support in a statewide referendum — is now off the table in negotiations.
Senate President Mike Thibodeau, R-Winterport, said last week that without that bargaining chip, his caucus would support the majority report.
House Minority Leader Ken Fredette, R-Newport, told the BDN on Sunday evening that legislative leaders failed to reach a budget deal during negotiations over the weekend.
As he has done on several recent days, Eves handed control of Monday’s House session to Majority Leader Jeff McCabe, D-Skowhegan, which indicates that leadership negotiations are continuing.
The Legislature and Gov. Paul LePage need to enact a biennial budget by July 1 in order to avoid a government shutdown. As the calendar marches toward the end of June, time is growing short in terms of budget writers’ ability to incorporate amendments to the budget document, which is several hundred pages long.
Lawmakers also need to account for a possible veto by LePage. The governor has up to 10 days to act on the budget, but the Legislature will need a day or two after the veto to hold override votes.
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