AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage said Tuesday it’s worth putting state government into a shutdown to ensure the two-year state budget lawmakers are struggling to pass won’t harm Maine’s economy for the next decade.
LePage, speaking during a radio interview on WVOM, accused Democrats of backing measures that will “do damage” to the state, namely preserving the 3 percent surtax on income above $200,000 per year, which was approved by voters in a November 2016 referendum to funnel more revenue to public schools. He also said Tuesday that he would not accept any last-minute proposals to increase other taxes and that any budget presented to him would have to address what he claims is the negative impact of land conservation on property taxes.
“I believe we’re going to shut down Friday night,” LePage said. “They asked me last night, what’s the cost of shutting down? The future of Maine. The future of Maine is worth shutting it down.”
Timing is what gives LePage new leverage in this stalemate. From a process perspective, LePage’s veto threats largely are irrelevant because the state budget needs two-thirds support in both chambers to go into effect by Saturday. That’s the same threshold the Legislature would need to overturn a gubernatorial veto.
However, LePage has said he would hold the budget for up to the full 10 days the Maine Constitution gives him to review bills, which could trigger a shutdown no matter what the Legislature does.
LePage said nonstarters for him are the preservation of the surtax or a General Fund budget with a bottom line in excess of $7.055 billion for the two-year cycle beginning July 1. However, LePage is still pushing for major policy reforms in the budget bill, some of which have already been rejected this year by the Legislature. They include a statewide labor contract for teachers and consolidation of schools’ administrative structures, which he and House Republicans have not budged on for weeks.
On Tuesday, he added another item: launching a review of Maine property that is not taxed, namely land in conservation, with the goal of moving some or all of it back onto the property tax rolls. He also dug up another policy goal he’s had for years and which has been repeatedly turned back by the Legislature: allowing people to start working in Maine at age 14 instead of 16 under current law. LePage argued Tuesday that those younger workers are needed in the state’s hospitality and tourist industries.
LePage suggested the Legislature enact the House Republicans’ version of the budget bill, with the policy changes, and said he and the Legislature could return to the school funding issue in the future if the reforms don’t work. Absent that, he put his opposition in black and white.
“I just know what I’m going to do and they’re playing chicken with me,” he said. “I’m the worst guy in the world to play chicken with because I don’t veer either way. I go straight ahead. So if there’s a collision to be had, it’s coming Friday night.”
During Maine’s last shutdown in 1991, state workers camped on the lawn of Capitol Park in front of the State House. They are taking a more preemptive approach this year, and pressure may build in Augusta on Tuesday, when the Maine State Employees Association has scheduled a “day of action” to lobby lawmakers on the budget.
Maine Gov. Paul LePage, testifies during a House Natural Resources subcommittee oversight hearing on the Antiquities Act on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, May 2, 2017.
AP
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