Politics & Co.
As the Legislature shifts into high gear nearing the session’s end, there is a lot of quid pro quo. Democrats in the Senate have advanced a bill linking Gov. Paul LePage’s prized hospital Medicaid debt payback plan to another plan LePage despises: expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. LePage told WGME his veto pen is ready should that bill arrive at his desk. Meanwhile, LePage has said paying back $186 million in debt to the state’s hospitals is his top priority and that passing a payback plan will trigger a number of other legislative actions, like releasing hundreds of millions in state bonds. In other news around the capital:
Work force bill sails on
A bill providing nearly $5 million in work force development investments in the next two years has sailed through the House and Senate with a broad base of support, including the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and the Maine AFL-CIO. It now heads to the appropriations committee, where it is expected to face its greatest challenge. Appropriations needs to find funding for the plan in the next two-year budget before it can take effect July 1.
Read his lips: No old taxes
LePage said during a press event last week that a call to eliminate Maine’s income tax and, at the same time, introduce no new taxes will be a part of his 2014 re-election campaign. The statement came during a State House presentation by a Missouri lobbyist, who argued that Maine is losing tax revenue to states like Florida, Nevada and Tennessee, where there are no taxes on personal income. LePage told the Portland Press Herald that he opposes a bipartisan plan to reduce the state’s income tax rate to a flat 4% while raising sales taxes and eliminating certain exemptions now on the books. LePage told the paper he’s opposed to the plan because it’s a tax increase, even though it would raise an estimated $160 million more in revenue.
All aboard the omnibus
The Legislature’s Energy, Technology and Utilities Committee has crafted a wide-ranging policy proposal dealing with issues ranging from funding for the Efficiency Maine Trust to new responsibilities of the Maine Public Utilities Commission to promote the expansion of natural gas infrastructure throughout the state. The bill would redirect around one-third of the Efficiency Maine Trust’s funding toward switching homeowners from oil heat to wood pellets, natural gas or propane — similar to a plan LePage proposed — but the governor told the Portland Press Herald the bill still doesn’t go far enough. At press time, it had not yet been voted out of committee.
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