UPDATED 2:12 P.M.: AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine lawmakers have sustained Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill that sought to force him to release voter-approved bonds.
The House voted 91-52 on Thursday, falling several votes short of the two-thirds support needed to overturn LePage’s veto. The Republican-led Senate supported overriding the veto with a 29-5 vote earlier Thursday.
Republican Sen. Roger Katz introduced the bill after LePage refused to sign off on more than $11 million in bonds for land conservation projects. It would have required the governor to issue bonds when they’ve been approved by voters, except for in extraordinary circumstances.
About $6.5 million of those bonds will soon expire unless they’re sold, putting several land conservation projects in jeopardy.
Several lawmakers said that while they don’t support the governor’s decision to withhold the bonds, they don’t believe that this bill is the solution. They said taking away the governor’s ability to decide when to release bonds could hurt the state’s credit rating and put taxpayer dollars at risk.
Katz’s bill is not among the 65 vetoes that LePage delivered to lawmakers on Thursday. Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves of North Berwick says the Legislature won’t take up those bills because LePage missed the 10-day deadline to act on them.
LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett says McCabe’s claim that LePage offered quid pro quo for veto-sustaining votes is not true. #mepolitics
— Mario Moretto (@riocarmine) July 16, 2015
OK they can adjourn now that would be fine. They are now overriding some of other vetoes like a hot knife through butter. #mepolitics
— Scott Thistle (@thisdog) July 16, 2015
91-52. Veto sustained on LMF bonds. #mepolitics
— Scott Thistle (@thisdog) July 16, 2015
McCabe: LePage has promised expedited funding for projects in GOP lawmakers’ districts if they sustain veto of Katz’s LMF bill #mepolitics
— Mario Moretto (@riocarmine) July 16, 2015
UPDATED 11:45 A.M.: AUGUSTA (AP) — The Republican-controlled Maine Senate has voted to overturn Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill designed to force the governor to release voter-approved bonds.
The Senate voted 25-9 to keep Republican Sen. Roger Katz’s bill alive on Thursday. It faces a final vote in the Democratic-controlled House.
LePage has withheld more than $11 million in land conservation bonds in an unsuccessful attempt to get lawmakers to pass one of his top priorities.
Roughly $6.5 million of those bonds will soon expire, but LePage introduced a bill on Wednesday to extend their life for one year. Lawmakers have not yet acted on that measure.
Katz’s bill seeks to prevent bonds from being used as political leverage and would require the governor to issue them when they’ve been approved by voters, except for in extraordinary circumstances.
Richard Rosen, commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, sent a letter to lawmakers Thursday urging them to sustain the veto, calling the bill an “overreaction to a relatively minor, and resolvable, disagreement.”
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