It is has been a disappointingly busy week in Augusta as lawmakers try to wrap up their business and formally end their session. Before they can do that, though, they plan to pass a “Part Two Budget,” and now we are starting to see just how bad that budget will be. Gone are even the most modest of spending curtailments proposed by the governor, and in their places is bloated spending and massive tax hikes to pay for their irresponsibility, including major increases in Maine’s income tax.
Will Janet Mills break her campaign promise (again) — and the statements she made in January — to not raise “broad-based taxes, or will she push back against her legislative allies? We discuss.
There was also, surprisingly, a public hearing on the Red Flag Law referendum this week, which included strong testimony against from state police officers and the Mills administration. We look ahead to the fall campaign.
Multiple bills that seek to reform Maine’s policy on transgender athletes have also been heard (and rejected), bringing up the very real possibility that the governing majority in Augusta may end the session while leaving that policy in place.
All of which brings up an interesting question: are Maine Democrats so confident that they belong in power that they are happy to hand the Republicans electoral ammunition to be used against them? Do they simply feel like they can not and will not lose, no matter what? We debate.
Finally, it has also been a big week in the country with major riots in Los Angeles over immigration enforcement and a strong reaction from the Trump administration. In addition, Israel is now striking against targets in Iran, seeking to destroy their ability to pursue a nuclear weapon. How does the Trump administration, which campaigned on ending “Forever Wars” react to this?
All this and more on this week’s Pine Tree Pulse.
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