How the Legislature is voting on vetoes.
AUGUSTA — Dozens of bills spiked by Gov. Paul LePage will get another shot this week when lawmakers return to Augusta on the heels of a session filled with partisan wrangling that will continue into the November elections.
On Thursday, the Democratic-controlled Legislature will consider at least 46 bills recently vetoed by the Republican governor, ranging from one that would close a $32 million hole in the state budget to a measure that would force his administration to rewrite contentious regulations for metallic mineral mining.
Bipartisan support is necessary for the bills to survive, so many of the politically-charged proposals are destined to die. But Democratic leaders, who claim LePage is wielding his veto pen as a campaign tool, say they’re confident they can preserve some bills that initially sailed through the Legislature with the backing of both parties.
“Republicans will have one day where they’re going to have to make the decision: Do they follow the governor and his campaign and his strategy to get re-elected … or do they stick by their votes, stick by their committee work and stick with their constituents?” said Democratic Senate President Justin Alfond of Portland.
Bills need two-thirds support of present-and-voting lawmakers in each chamber to survive a veto.
Among the measures that initially received veto-proof support in the House and Senate is one that would fix the $6.3 billion state budget and move hundreds of developmentally disabled residents off a waiting list for Medicaid services. Only eight lawmakers voted against the measure.
One measure likely to go into law would encourage the creation of food hubs, where small farmers can aggregate their products for distribution. Another would expand private insurance coverage for treatment for autism spectrum disorders to more children.
LePage opposed that bill because it would raise health insurance premiums, including plans on the federal exchange under the Affordable Care Act.
“It is perplexing that any legislator would promote individuals seeking inexpensive coverage through the exchanges while simultaneously voting for a bill like this, which makes that coverage less affordable,” he said in his veto letter.
If history is any indication, a vast majority of LePage’s vetoes will be upheld on Thursday.
LePage has vetoed 72 bills this session and a total of 179 since taking office in 2011, more than any other governor in recent history. The Legislature has overturned the governor’s veto only 13 times since Democrats took over in 2012.
Democrats say LePage is an obstructionist who fills his veto letters with campaign rhetoric. But the Republican governor’s administration contends that many of the bills sent to his desk are politically motivated.
“Many of these bills could result in unintended and negative consequences or are fiscally irresponsible,” his spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett said in an email.
Republicans have touted their ability to sustain several attempts by Democrats to expand Medicaid under the federal health care law. They’ll likely get another chance on Thursday when the Legislature considers two more Medicaid expansion proposals LePage vetoed this week.
Other bills that face a long shot include one that would cancel the administration’s contract with the Alexander Group, which is reviewing Maine’s Medicaid program.
Republicans say their ability to stop what they view as bad policy is just as important as passing good legislation.
“For most of the past 40 years in Maine, politicians have grown government and raised taxes unabated,” House Republican Leader Ken Fredette of Newport said in a statement. “I think the Democrats see that pattern coming to an end and it frustrates them.”
Here’s a look at some of the other vetoed bills lawmakers will consider:
MEDICAID EXPANSION: Democrats have failed in three previous attempts to overturn LePage’s vetoes of bills to expand Medicaid under the federal health care law. They will get two more shots at it on Thursday. LePage, who says the expansion will be too costly, recently vetoed a bill under which the state would seek permission from the federal government to use the Medicaid funds to help residents buy private health insurance instead. He also rejected a separate Medicaid expansion bill.
GUN PERMITS: LePage vetoed a bill seeking to overhaul the state’s concealed handgun permit system. Residents currently can get concealed handgun permits through state police, their local police chief or municipal officials. This bill would limit municipalities’ ability to issue permits to only those that have a full-time police chief. State police would also manage all background and mental health checks and create a confidential centralized database of permit holders. LePage said the bill would make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to carry concealed handguns.
MINING REGULATIONS: The bill would direct LePage’s administration to rewrite its proposed regulations for metallic mineral mining in the state. Environmental groups say the proposed regulations won’t protect the environment. But LePage said they follow guidelines set by the 2012 law that put in motion the overhaul of the two-decade-old regulations.
OFFSHORE TAX HAVENS: LePage vetoed a bill that aims to prevent companies from avoiding paying taxes in Maine by holding their profits overseas in tax havens. The measure is expected to save the state $10 million. Democrats say large multinational companies should have to pay taxes like everyone else, but LePage said the bill illustrates Democrats’ desire to “drive Maine into an economic wilderness and kill existing and future jobs.”
DRUNKEN DRIVING: Lawmakers will consider a bill targeting repeat offenders of drunken driving. Supporters say prosecutors can currently examine only 10 years of someone’s driving record to determine whether he or she should be penalized as a repeat offender. The measure would ensure that all drunken-driving convictions that occur during the person’s lifetime would be counted against him or her. It only addresses felony-level drunken-driving convictions and LePage said it doesn’t go far enough to punish repeat offenders.
Vetoes to be considered
- LD 347: An Act To Amend Insurance Coverage for Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (Lachowicz)
- LD 440: An Act To Support Community Health Centers through Tax Credits for Dentists and Primary Care Professionals Practicing in Underserved Areas (Jackson)
- LD 1310: An Act To Improve Access to Dental Care through the Establishment of the Maine Board of Oral Health (Patrick)
- LD 1431: An Act to Support School Nutrition and Expand the Local Foods Economy (Johnson)
- LD 1468: An Act To Establish the High-efficiency Biomass Pellet Boiler Rebate Program and the Home Heating Conversion Fund (Jackson)
- LD 1640: An Act To Enhance the Stability and Predictability of Health Care Costs for Returning Veterans and Others by Addressing the Issues Associated with Hospital Charity Care and Bad Debt (Jackson)
- LD 1641: An Act To Amend the Workers’ Compensation Laws as They Pertain to Employee Representation (Patrick)
- LD 1837: An Act To Provide Former Employees of the Maine Military Authority the Ability To Sue for Severance Pay (Jackson)
- LD 1750: An Act To Amend the Maine Administrative Procedure Act and Clarify Wind Energy Laws (Alfond)
- LD 1765: An Act To Establish the Criminal Law Revision Commission (Gerzofsky)
- LD 1824: An Act To Provide Additional Authority to the State Board of Corrections (Gerzofsky)
- LD 1827: An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Support Maine Small Business and Job Creation (Valentino)
- LD 1833: An Act To Improve Workers’ Compensation Protection for Injured Workers Whose Employers Have Wrongfully Not Secured Workers’ Compensation Insurance (Patrick)
- LD 1851: An Act To Delay Implementation of the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act and Related Statutory Provisions (Joint Order)
- LD 38: Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Chapter 201: Provider of Last Resort Service Quality, a Major Substantive Rule of the Public Utilities Commission (Hobbins)
- LD 222: An Act Designating the Chief of the State Police as the Only Issuing Authority of a Permit To Carry a Concealed Handgun (Marks)
- LD 297: An Act To Require Forest Rangers To Be Trained in Order To Allow Them To Carry Firearms (Dunphy)
- LD 906: An Act To Permit a School Administrative Unit Discretion Concerning Participation of Students from Charter Schools in School Extracurricular and Interscholastic Activities (Moonen)
- LD 933: An Act To Establish a Separate Regulatory Board for Dental Hygienists (Sirocki)
- LD 1120: An Act To Improve Maine’s Tax Laws (Goode)
- LD 1154: An Act To Establish the Maine Length of Service Award Program (Maker)
- LD 1185: An Act To Enhance Efforts To Use Locally Produced Food in Schools (McCabe)
- LD 1194: An Act To Protect Social Media Privacy in School and the Workplace (McClellan)
- LD 1247: An Act To Expand Coverage of Family Planning Services (Pringle)
- LD 1345: Resolve, To Study the Design and Implementation of Options for a Universal Health Care Plan in the State That Is in Compliance with the Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Priest)
- LD 1367: An Act To Require Health Insurance Carriers and the MaineCare Program To Cover the Cost of Transition Services To Bridge the Gap between High School and Independence (Graham)
- LD 1463: An Act To Examine Best Practices Relating to Tax Expenditures (Rotundo)
- LD 1479: An Act To Clarify Telecommunications Regulation Reform (Hobbins)
- LD 1593: Resolve, To Eliminate Financial Inequality in MaineCare Reimbursement for Community-based Behavioral Health Services (Sanborn)
- LD 1578: An Act To Increase Health Security by Expanding Federally Funded Health Care for Maine People (Eves)
- LD 1600: An Act To Require Health Insurers To Provide Coverage for Human Leukocyte Antigen Testing To Establish Bone Marrow Donor Transplantation Suitability (Rankin)
- LD 1719: An Act To Improve Education about and Awareness of Maine’s Health Laws and Resources (Rochelo)
- LD 1729: An Act To Increase the Period of Time for the Calculation of a Prior Conviction for Operating under the Influence (Marks)
- LD 1747: Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Chapter 180: Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth Systems, a Major Substantive Rule of the Department of Education (MacDonald)
- LD 1757: Resolve, To Establish the Blue Ribbon Commission on Independent Living and Disability (Peterson)
- LD 1761: An Act To Ensure That Large Public Utility Reorganizations Advance the Economic Development and Information Access Goals of the State (Hobbins)
- LD 1772: Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Chapter 200: Metallic Mineral Exploration, Advanced Exploration and Mining, a Late-filed Major Substantive Rule of the Department of Environmental Protection (Welsh)
- LD 1794: An Act To Cancel the No-bid Alexander Group Contract To Produce Savings in Fiscal Year 2013-14 (Farnsworth)
- LD 1806: An Act To Implement the Recommendations Contained in the State Government Evaluation Act Review of the Maine Public Employees Retirement System (Rotundo)
- LD 1809: An Act Concerning Meetings of Public Bodies Using Communications Technology (Priest)
- LD 1816: An Act To Address Recommendations from the Report by the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability Regarding the Public Utilities Commission (Kruger)
- LD 1820: An Act To Reduce Abuse of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program through Restriction of Electronic Benefits Transfers (Nadeau – Gov’s Bill)
- LD 1821: An Act To Implement Recommendations of the Right To Know Advisory Committee (Priest)
- LD 1829: An Act To Require the Department of Health and Human Services To Report Annually on Investigations and Prosecutions of False Claims Made under the MaineCare, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Food Supplement Programs (Gattine)
- LD 1850: Resolve, To Establish the Commission To Strengthen the Adequacy and Equity of Certain Cost Components of the School Funding Formula (MacDonald)
- LD 1858: An Act To Achieve the Savings Required under Part F of the Biennial Budget and To Change Certain Provisions of the Law for Fiscal Years Ending June 30, 2014 and June 30, 2015 (Rotundo)
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