The Maine State House in Augusta lit up at night during the 2024 legislative session. (Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
Returning on microphone after midnight on Wednesday morning, the Legislature’s budget committee voted to remove dozens of items from Gov. Janet Mills’ supplemental budget proposal, with the intent to consider them in the biennium budget for 2026-27 instead.
“One of the things we’re trying to do is pair the supplemental down to items that are truly emergencies,” said committee co-chair Sen. Peggy Rotundo (D-Androscoggin).
The Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee approved the $118 million Mills proposed to close the MaineCare funding gap, the main purpose of the supplemental budget. However, lawmakers decided provisions related to limits for housing assistance, paid family and medical leave premiums, renewable energy credits, and disaster recovery funds, among others, were not emergencies and removed them from the change package.
Additionally, a number of cuts the governor had proposed in the supplemental are now no longer in the plan after the committee closed voting just after 1 a.m. on Wednesday.
These include reduced funding for mental health law enforcement liaisons and crisis receiving centers in Kennebec and Aroostook counties, which lawmakers approved last year, as well as reduced funding for the Office of Violence Prevention — items that are already facing further cuts in Mills’ two-year budget proposal.
All of these changes to Mills’ budget plan were made with unanimous, bipartisan votes of those present.
“We appreciate you guys working together with us,” Rep. Jack Ducharme (R-Madison) said, referring to his Democratic colleagues, “and we’re hopeful that we continue this posture and move forward right from here into the biennial [budget].”
While much of the committee’s work included removing items from the supplemental, lawmakers also unanimously decided to add some provisions that will require quarterly reports of existing programs.
These additions, proposed by Ducharme, include fiscal reports on MaineCare — including on fraud, abuse and limited eligibility due to incarceration — as well as assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, MaineCare and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.The committee also approved a report detailing allowable policy changes related to a 10% reduction in MaineCare enrollment by June 2026.
When the committee heard testimony on the supplemental budget in late January, what appeared to most concern the public was an item not in the plan.
Nonprofit providers of programs for seniors and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities said the Mills administration notified them in December that anticipated Jan. 1 cost-of-living adjustments for Medicaid would not be coming, a move they argued is a violation of state law. As a result, providers from across Maine urged lawmakers to restore those adjustments by including them in the supplemental budget.
The budget committee did not appear to act on those asks Wednesday morning.
Some plans in the governor’s proposal that drew scrutiny from the public were removed, notably cuts to General Assistance, which helps municipalities pay for basic necessities for those who can’t afford them.
Mills proposed limiting housing assistance, except for temporary housing and emergency shelters, to a maximum of three months per household over one year, as well as limiting municipalities from exceeding the maximum levels for all assistance categories for no more than 30 days per household over one year.
Those proposed cuts, among several others, are now slated to be considered in the biennium budget, hearings for which began this week. The supplemental budget now heads to the chambers for approval.
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