Testy state employees, Democrats blame Maine shutdown on GOP

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Anxious state workers and testy Democrats blamed Maine’s GOP on Saturday for a budget impasse that has partially shut down the state and showed few signs of ending soon.

The state’s first shutdown in a quarter century began after lawmakers failed to meet Friday’s deadline for a new state budget. House Republicans objected to $162 million in increased education spending in a proposed two-year, $7.1 billion budget.

Union members and Democrats were the first to arrive when lawmakers returned Saturday, and they held a rally outside the House floor, chanting “Do your job!” at Republicans as they walked by.

LePage this week vowed he would not sign any budget that did not include his overall income tax cut proposals. He proposed an alternative budget late Friday. Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon described LePage’s alternative budget plan as a list of demands that would require at least a day of work.

On Saturday, some Democrats charged that LePage’s late proposal was just an attempt to sabotage lawmakers from passing a budget at all.

“That’s how we feel we’ve been hijacked,” said Rep. Robert Alley, D-Beals. “He wants to get his own agenda out. Schooling’s our number one priority.”

LePage’s office said Saturday his budget proposal was “a vehicle for compromise.” His office also said legislative leaders have informed him it’s not logistically possible for the new proposal to be printed in a timely manner, so the proposal is off the table.

LePage’s office said House Republicans will offer amendments to the rejected budget proposal to give it a better chance of passing.

“The governor looks forward to reviewing that proposal in the hopes it will provide a solution to the shutdown,” his office said in a statement.

Some Republicans said they were hopeful a compromise could be brokered. Many declined to comment.

“I think we should’ve done it yesterday,” said Rep. William Tuell, R-East Machias.

The Legislature early Saturday voted to once again allow a new six-member committee to try to hash out a budget deal in the coming days. That committee was scheduled to meet on Saturday afternoon.

Democrats and Senate Republicans have said averting a government shutdown that could hurt state employees and the economy was more important than passing a perfect budget.

Maryann Griffin, of Augusta, a technician with the state Department of Environmental Protection who said she has worked for the state for almost 30 years, said the shutdown was likely to hurt state employees the most because they fear for their paychecks. Attorneys for the Maine State Employees Association have said the state will face lawsuits if it fails to pay its employees on time.

“I’ll be lucky if I can buy food,” she said. “I’m one of those who’s paycheck to paycheck.”

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree urged lawmakers to think of state workers, whose livelihoods are at stake.

“As families gather together to celebrate Independence Day, thousands of state employees across Maine are filled with anxiety and worry that they will not be able to make ends meet because obstructionist politics have prevented a common sense budget to pass in Augusta,” she said.

The full effects of the shutdown haven’t been felt by many yet because it’s the weekend. State parks, correctional facilities and psychiatric hospitals remain open, and law enforcement and first responders are on the job. If the shutdown continues, bureau of motor vehicle offices would close, while at least one courthouse would be open in each county.

During the last shutdown, in 1991, a time of bleak revenues with no immediate sign of recovery, state employees flooded into the State House as citizens seeking services found shuttered motor vehicle offices, long waits to apply for food stamps and closed veterans’ cemeteries.

This year, revenues are healthy, with unemployment at a historic low. The nonprofit advocacy group Maine Equal Justice Partners sued to ensure the state continues to pay benefits to low-income Mainers.

Phil Bartlett, chair of the Maine Democratic Party, called this year’s shutdown unnecessary and motivated by ego.

“This shutdown is about no core principle. This is all about the show,” he said.