Maine Legislature to return May 10 to address unresolved bills, vetoes

The Maine state flag flies outside the State House in Augusta. (Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)

The Maine Legislature is scheduled to reconvene on May 10 to consider the roughly 200 pieces of legislation that remain in limbo between passage and funding, as well as consider overriding legislation vetoed by Gov. Janet Mills. 

House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Portland) and Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Allagash) announced Wednesday that legislators would return to Augusta next Friday. “The Legislature will convene to conduct legislative business and consider objections of the Governor,” a spokesperson for Jackson said, adding “we expect to run the special appropriations table.”

If a measure costs money to implement or run, it needs to be funded either explicitly in the budget or by the remaining unappropriated money once the budget plan is set. Shortly before the sun rose the day after the Maine Legislature’s adjournment deadline, April 17, both chambers passed state budget changes, however the Legislature left a number of measures on “the table.”

The Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee handles bills placed on the table and the 13 members have the discretion to pass a bill as is, amend it to change its cost or kill it outright. In a flurry of votes on statutory adjournment day, the committee passed some bills as-is, which were sent to the Senate for approval, while amended items had to be re-sent to both chambers to determine their ultimate outcome.

A handful of these measures got caught in the Senate. When taken up on the floor for re-enactment as amended, the Senate tabled them, leaving them as unfinished business. The majority of bills caught between passage and funding, however, remain on the table. 

These include bills to create an Office of Tribal-State Affairs, an advisory council to ensure Wabanaki and African African studies requirements are effectively taught in schools, establish a Civil Rights Unit, create a state board to handle the naming and renaming of places, among others. 

If bills remain on the table when the Legislature adjourns sine die, the bills will automatically die. 

“The Speaker, House Democratic Leaders and our Appropriations members are preparing for items to be taken off the table and — if those items are amended — will consider them in our chamber,” a spokesperson for Talbot Ross said. “Ultimately, we know that there are still vital pieces of legislation that deserve action and immediate funding.”

While there are outstanding questions about the legality of lawmakers taking action on bills without calling a special session, the Speaker’s spokesperson said her office is in conversation with the Attorney General’s office to ensure steps taken are in accordance with state law.

Regarding bill vetoes, as of Wednesday afternoon, Mills had vetoed six bills since statutory adjournment. A two-thirds vote of those present in both chambers is required to override a veto. 

The bills the governor has vetoed so far include measures to tax wealthy Mainers at higher rates, apply the state minimum wage to farmworkers, allow agricultural workers to discuss wages and engage in other concerted activity, require employers leasing state land for a clean energy projects to enter harmony agreements with leeses, ban conversion devices that make semi-automatic weapons operate like machine guns, and prohibit the state from extending the operating services agreement for the Juniper Ridge Landfill unless the site operator, Casella, implements PFAS treatment technologies.

Earlier this session, Mills also vetoed legislation to prevent felony-level charges for petty theft and limit non-compete clauses, both of which the House has already sustained.

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