Maine’s Senate passed a bill tying payment of the state’s hospital debt to the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, in a party-line vote.
The Bangor Daily News reported that Democrats and independent Sen. Richard Woodbury of Yarmouth supported the measure while all Republicans voted to oppose it.
The bill, which links a plan to leverage revenue bonds taken out against a renegotiated state liquor contract to pay $184 million in state-owed hospital debt, will now head for a vote in the House, where a similarly partisan debate is expected.
Gov. Paul LePage has already told news station WGME that he plans to veto the bill if it clears the House and reaches his desk.
