Lawmakers return for veto day as Mills warns against additional spending

May 10—AUGUSTA — Lawmakers returned to Augusta Friday to cast override votes on six bills vetoed by Gov. Janet Mills and to potentially vote on as many as 80 leftover spending bills despite warnings from the governor.

Mills has vetoed 49 bills since taking office, none of which have been overturned by the Legislature. Lawmakers have already sustained two vetoes this year that would have banned noncompete agreements between employers and employees and ended the state's three strikes law for repeated retail thefts.

The Senate is expected to convene at 9 a.m. to cast override votes on two bills, including L.D. 2086, a proposed ban on bumpstocks and other rapid fire modification devices. Mills said she vetoed that bill because a similar — but narrower — federal rule is being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, and she worried Maine's broader definition could have unintended consequences for law-abiding gun owners.

The other bill, L.D. 373, would require "labor harmony" agreements for clean energy projects. Mills objected to that bill because she said it was ambiguous and "potentially more far reaching than intended."

The House is expected to convene at 10 a.m. to take up four vetoes, including L.D. 2237, which would require farmworkers to be paid the state minimum wage. That veto prompted strong pushback from labor advocates since the bill is a modified version of one recommended by a working group Mills appointed to study the issue. Mills objected to a provision inserted by lawmakers to allow farm workers to sue their employers for wage violations.

Mills also vetoed a quiet effort to restructure Maine's income tax brackets and create a higher income tax rate for wealthier residents. Mills said the bill, L.D. 1231, didn't get a proper vetting, since details were not available at the public hearing, and she was concerned that tax relief was not being directed towards low income Mainers.

Other vetoes being taken up by the House include L.D. 2135, which would set higher water quality standards for leachate at state-owned landfills; L.D. 525, which would create a new legal framework governing labor relations in Maine's agricultural sector.

But lawmakers may do far more than take up the vetoes.

The Legislature's budget committee has recommended passage of 80 additional bills that had been held back because they lack funding approval.

Mills blasted the actions of Democratic lawmakers on the budget-writing committee Wednesday after they ignored her administration's warnings against increasing the state budget and instead advanced 80 additional spending bills for floor votes. A written statement from Mills' office accused the lawmakers of "employing budget gimmicks like stripping fiscal notes, delaying effective dates and raiding other special revenue accounts."

This story will be updated.

Copy the Story Link