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Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov. Mills signs budget addition into law
Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, Senate President Mattie Daughtry and Gov. Janet Mills listen to the State of the Judiciary address on Feb. 25, 2025. (Photo by James Neuger/ Maine Morning Star) Gov. Janet Mills signed into law on Monday the budget passed by the Democratic majority of the Maine Legislature last week. After initial conflicting votes, both chambers Wednesday night approved a roughly $320 million budget addition to the $11.3 billion biennial budget passed in March. 'The budget bill enacted by the Legislature, like all lawmaking, is the product of various tradeoffs and compromises,' Mills said in a statement on Monday. 'Although I might not agree with every single provision, I appreciate the diligence and hard work of the Appropriations Committee to produce this bill, which makes important investments in Maine families, children, and seniors, our higher education institutions, housing, and more.' With Mills' signature, the budget bill will take effect 90 days after the adjournment of the legislative session, a date that is not yet known as lawmakers are planning to return this week to finish work. The budget the Legislature passed defied several of the proposals Mills put forth earlier this year, including rejecting the governor's proposed cuts to childcare programs and low-income food assistance, as well as proposed taxes on ambulances and pharmacies. The budget also effectively stops the state's free community college program for future graduating classes, against the governor's request to make it permanent. However, the plan includes Mills' proposed tax additions on streaming services, cannabis, pensions and cigarettes — the latter at an even higher amount than the governor requested. Read about more of the details of the plan here. Committee sets budget plan with party-line vote 'At a time when so much feels uncertain, this budget offers something solid: a commitment to the well-being of our communities and a hopeful vision for a stronger, more resilient Maine,' senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Brunswick) said in a statement Wednesday night. Her counterpart, Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook), offered a different perspective. 'We began the first regular session of the 132nd Legislature six months ago with news of a severe budget shortfall. It is truly concerning that legislative Democrats are continuing with this reckless path,' Stewart said in a statement Wednesday night. 'The Democrat majority has seized every opportunity to spend more at the expense of Maine's taxpayers. I have a very simple question for my Democrat counterparts: at what point will you wake up and realize enough is enough?' While added appropriations total about $320 million, the bill has a lower fiscal note, $117 million, due to a range of cost cutting measures — taxes, some cuts, and transferring unexpected surpluses. The net cost is also lower than the roughly $127 million that remained after the initial budget passed in March, which had continued funding for state services at the same level while also providing one-time funding to fill the MaineCare deficit and other urgent needs. The Democratic majority also pushed through that two-year budget plan in March without Republican support and formally adjourned in order to start the clock for those funds to become available in 90 days, which was Friday. While the continued party-line divide in Augusta remains clear, the initial votes on the budget addition last week illuminated some divisions within the Democratic majority. Six progressive Democrats in the House initially voted against the budget, arguing for their colleagues to reject regressive taxes, which have a greater impact on people with lower incomes, and instead push for a model that taxes the wealthy more — even if the governor, who has opposed any income-based tax reform, ultimately vetoes it. But five of the six representatives later backed the budget, allowing it to pass. There is a bill currently in limbo that proposes such a change. Referred to as a 'millionaire's tax,' LD 1089 would place a tax surcharge of 2% on the portion of a resident's taxable income beyond $1 million for single filers to be used to fund public K-12 education. After both chambers rejected the bill in initial votes, the Senate reversed its stance last week, sending the measure back to the House to reconsider. It remains tabled. There are several bills that similarly remain in a state of uncertainty between the chambers — including proposals for a comprehensive data privacy law — that lawmakers could consider when they return sometime this week to finish work. About 300 bills that have passed both chambers are also in limbo on what's called the appropriations table. The appropriations committee, which manages this table, will ultimately decide which proposals to fund with any remaining unappropriated money. Some of those proposals are bills to establish a task force to suggest reform to the real estate property tax, ensure the already required teaching of Wabanaki and African American studies are effectively taught in Maine schools, provide more funding for family planning services, fund proper disposal of syringe litter and expand testing for forever chemicals in private wells, among others. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Maine House balks at decriminalizing possession of psychedelic mushrooms
Jun. 9—AUGUSTA — The Maine House of Representatives reversed course on Monday and voted against a bill to decriminalize small amounts of psychedelic mushrooms for therapeutic use. The bill, which would have decriminalized the possession of 1 ounce or less of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in certain species of mushrooms, for adults age 21 and older. Psilocybin is currently a Schedule X drug in Maine, possession of which is a Class D crime. The bill's near passage came after a push from military veterans and others who say psilocybin is an effective way of treating anxiety and depression. It had previously cleared the House and Senate by one vote in each chamber last week. On Monday, the House voted 74-72 against enacting the bill, without debate. It faces additional votes in the Senate, leaving open a long shot chance of a compromise. The close votes in the bill represent progress for a group that has been advocating for therapeutic use of psilocybin for at least three years. While the initial votes in support gave advocates hope, the bill, LD 1034, had an uphill climb. The Maine Department of Public Safety testified against the proposal this spring, while the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention testified neither for nor against. Gov. Janet Mills, a former Democratic prosecutor, has not weighed in on the bill. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Grayson Lookner, D-Portland, urged fellow lawmakers to support it during a floor debate last week. "This is a matter of compassion, common sense and justice," Lookner said. "We have before us an opportunity to alleviate profound suffering, particularly among our veterans who have borne the invisible wounds of war." Lawmakers on the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee heard from several veterans who spoke in support of the bill during a public hearing in March, including Cecilia Corey, a Hartland resident who said she experienced sexual trauma in the Air Force and also lost her son in a murder-suicide. "(Psilocybin) was immensely helpful," Corey said. "It took my extreme symptoms of PTSD from feeling like I was drowning in them to a completely manageable level. I've become a better parent, a better partner to my husband, and I've experienced relief from my depression, anxiety and PTSD symptoms." Oregon and Colorado, as well as Washington, D.C., Detroit and Seattle and other U.S. cities, have decriminalized psilocybin in recent years. Maine has considered doing so in the past, although bills that proposed making psilocybin available to adults through state-regulated treatment centers failed to pass in each of the last two legislatures. Scott Pelletier, commander of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency within the Department of Public Safety, told lawmakers at the March public hearing that while medical studies and research have shown benefits of psilocybin therapy in conjunction with psychotherapy, such studies have taken place in controlled environments. He expressed concerns about quality control outside of lab settings. "This bill has the word therapeutic in the title, but the source of the 1 ounce amount is unknown and the lack of any connection to psychotherapy or the quality control of psilocybin is troubling," Pelletier said in written testimony. Dr. Puthiery Va, director of the Maine CDC, urged lawmakers to proceed cautiously with the proposal. She said psilocybin, under the right conditions, has offered a promising treatment of certain mental health conditions. But the effects can be unpredictable and vary from person to person. "By allowing possession of a limited amount of psilocybin, Maine will be assuming a 'therapeutic amount' with no therapeutic framework and will become one of the few states in the U.S. to deprioritize or decriminalize psilocybin ahead of changes at the federal level," Va told lawmakers in March. Staff Writer Randy Billings contributed to this story. Copy the Story Link
