03 July, 2017
The stalled budget proposal would have repealed a measure that voters approved in November to impose an additional 3 percent income tax on state residents who earn more than $200,000 a year.
On Friday, a compromise bill passed the Senate but failed in the House due to Republican resistance.
State governments run by both capitalist parties, Democratic and Republican, have been robbing state workers of their pensions little by little to finance tax cuts for the wealthy and big business.
LePage's office didn't immediately comment.
Maine Gov. Paul LePage has declared a state of civil emergency in Maine in the absence of an approved biennial budget by the state Legislature.
Gideon has said that LePage behaved "aggressively" toward her during a late night meeting Friday in which she and three other lawmakers were attempting to avert the shutdown. If his decision comes after midnight tonight, the government shutdown will take effect.
State police, parks and all offices responsible for collecting revenue would continue to operate during a shutdown, LePage has said.
ME residents may wake up with a partial government shutdown after resistance from House Republicans prevented enactment of a two-year budget. The House adjourned after the vote to await the governor's bill. But that is short of the two-thirds support needed.
Gideon described the LePage's alternative budget plan as a list of demands that would require at least a day of work.
The governor can submit a bill at any time.
"I am angered and deeply saddened by the failure of the legislature to pass a budget", Gideon said in her own statement.
The Senate voted 33-0 to approve the extension.
Republicans wiped that away, but the house GOP still wants more. But Democratic Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz refused, instead proposing a vote on a full two-year budget on July 18 while also raising the sales tax from 6.35% to 6.99%. It's Maine's first shutdown in 25 years. Other states locked in debate include IL, which hasn't had a budget in two years and has faced a risk of a ratings downgrade to junk status.
House Republicans shot down $162 million in increased education spending in a proposed two-year, $7.1 billion budget on Friday night.
The governor posted a video Sunday on Facebook urging lawmakers to send him a budget without any tax increases - and with a statewide teacher contract pilot program. Non-essential state workers will stay home, and most government buildings will not open until deals are reached.
Democratic State Senator Cathy Breen says she feels like her caucus is being gouged.
At the center of the budget stalemate is a controversial plan that would shake up the state's largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield.
"This is the governor trying to insert himself into a process which he removed himself before", Gideon said.
Action on the budget proposal is expected to start around 2:30 p.m. I made a commitment in 2010 that I would not raise taxes on Maine people. But the governor says the Legislature will be to blame. "They are asking me to compromise my principles, and sir that's not going to happen", he said.
There is still a possibility of a last-second change in the budget to avoid a shutdown.
Rob Poindexter, communications director for the Maine House Republicans, said he was "cautiously optimistic" that a new budget could be worked out in 36 to 48 hours. The Augusta Republican said it's been "negotiated hard by conservative Republicans, liberal Democrats and everybody in between".
House Republican Leader Ken Fredette's spokesman said lawmakers are reviewing the latest proposal.
Democrats and Senate Republicans have said averting a government shutdown that could hurt state employees and the economy was more important than passing a ideal budget. Months of hearings had failed to result in a unified agreement. Lawmakers have been grappling over taxes and education funding.
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.
