We have a budget deal
In an overnight series of votes, the appropriations committee finalized its version of Mills' spending package. The panel closed out budget work with a unanimous vote early Friday. The package sat at $1.2 billion when Mills last amended it and this one should be close to that figure.
The deal between Democrats and Republicans includes $850 relief payments to nearly 860,000 Mainers, more people than in Mills' proposal, as well as $60 million in new money to address PFAS contamination and health effects, state pension increases and $12 million for bills lingering without funding, per a House Democratic summary. It will be on the chamber floors next week.
"There is always this attraction to bringing things down to the wire," Fecteau said in a Facebook post. "But not this time." |
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What we're reading
— Sanctions on Russia are playing a role in skyrocketing fertilizer prices for Maine farmers that have been on the rise since 2020. One potato farmer said the price was $120 per ton a couple decades ago, but he recently paid $700 per ton, which he said was on the low side of what others are paying.
— Speaking of sanctions, Russia slapped retaliatory but symbolic sanctions on nearly 400 members of Congress, including Democratic Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden of Maine. Pingree called it "a badge of honor" after a recent trip to eastern Europe to review fallout of the Ukraine invasion.
— Golden held a fundraising head start at the end of March over former Rep. Bruce Poliquin, the Republican challenging him to a rematch of their 2018 race in Maine's 2nd District. Poliquin had slightly more cash left, however. |
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Follow along today
10 a.m. The House and Senate are in again. In the House, the sports betting compromise between Mills and tribes is expected to dominate proceedings after two hours of Thursday debate on the sovereignty bid. Watch here.
The Senate schedule is less certain, but it could vote on a proposal from Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, to strengthen policies against sexual misconduct at Maine colleges and universities. Watch here. |
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| 📷 Lead photo: Sen. Mark Lawrence, D-York, reviews papers in the Senate chamber at the State House on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo by Robert F. Bukaty) |
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