Policy Minute: The magic budget number
Courtesy Portland Regional Chamber
Chris Hall, CEO, Portland Regional Chamber
Welcome to Policy Minute, a quick recap of policy and politics at the State House and in the Portland region from a business perspective. For more information, you can read my weekly Policy Update.
With the legislative session reaching its final weeks, here's what's been happening at the State House:
• The appropriations committee has a two-year state budget worked out. Now the question is whether they have the votes to pass their budget and override the governor's threatened veto.
• Lawmakers passed an omnibus energy bill that won support from most legislators and many different interests. The hope is that the bill will help lower energy costs in Maine.
• The "Gang of 11" tax reform bill is dead, killed by a unanimous Taxation Committee vote. Or is it? Some think it might come back to life in the event of a budget impasse.
• A (barely) bipartisan compromise emerged in the Maine Senate on Medicaid expansion, but the proposal faces votes in the House and a likely veto from the governor. Paying back the hospital debt is no longer part of that conversation, but still needs to be done.
• Seth Goodall will become New England's regional administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration as soon as the legislative session ends. His current job, Maine Senate Majority Leader, will be up for grabs, setting off many political maneuverings.
• Charter schools face new limits on virtual and for-profit charters in Maine, and the Maine Charter School Commission is thinking about a moratorium to allow it to catch up with the charter schools it has already approved.
• Lawmakers put redistricting legislation on the governor's desk as the result of a bipartisan agreement that averted the more typical deadlock and court hearings.
In our region: It's election day tomorrow and many of our communities are voting on school budgets, bonds and other ballot issues. Please don't forget to vote — if you need information about where and how just go to your community's website.
Up Next: Watch the legislative votes on the state budget later this week. The magic number of votes in the House is 101, and in the Senate it's 24 — that's the number of votes needed to make the budget law in the event of a veto.
Chris Hall is the CEO if the Portland Regional Chamber. Policy Minute is part of the Chamber's effort to keep Mainebiz readers up to date on important business-related issues that impact our workplace, our community and our future.
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