With the first session of the 131st Legislature in full swing, my colleagues and I have turned our attention to over 2,100 bills that have been submitted for consideration. Many of them will pass, hopefully, lots of good ones, and some will fail or be amended as we solicit input from various stakeholders, including members of our communities via the public hearing and work session process.
Several bills will also be absorbed into the biennial budget. Crafting this budget is an incredibly important part of what we do in the first regular session of each Legislature and plays a critical role in shaping the direction of our state in the months and years to come.
For some background, the state budget is the sum of all enacted bills with a fiscal impact, meaning those that will cost money. The Maine Constitution requires the governor and the Legislature to submit, enact and approve a balanced budget. Unlike the federal government, we cannot exist in a deficit, so we need to find a way to pay for every commitment that we make to the people of Maine.
The budget process begins when the governor releases her biennial budget proposal, which is sent early in the legislative session as a bill to the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee. Early last month, the governor released her proposal. Moving forward, the governor, state departments and agencies, the Legislature, public-interest groups and the public will all work to finalize the bill. The final budget will include not only elements of the governor’s proposed budget, but also other enacted bills that require funding.
This session, I am pushing to ensure that the budget works to improve the lives of all Mainers, including by ensuring that housing is a priority, we continue to fully fund the state’s share of public education costs, we offer meaningful support for working families and provide property tax relief for more Mainers.
The governor’s proposal includes many of these provisions, but there are certainly areas where we will continue to negotiate. Her proposal maintains our public K-12 education funding, continues to offer free community college for eligible students, expands Pre-K and invests in behavioral health, care for older Mainers and improvements to the child welfare system while also bolstering property tax relief and offering more support for retirees. Beyond these items, it also invests in building Maine’s infrastructure and offers some money to continue to address PFAS contamination, among other things. This is a great starting place, and I look forward to finding opportunities to continue to address our state’s housing and workforce needs as the biennial budget process unfolds.
If you are interested and able to get involved, I encourage you to do so! There are several ways members of the public will be able to weigh in on the budget and other legislation this year. Folks will now be able to testify on legislation both remotely and in person at the State House, making government more accessible to people from every corner of our state. The Legislature’s website, which you can access at https:// legislature.maine.gov, has numerous helpful resources, including a full schedule of public hearings, an online form to sign up to testify live before a committee, a complete database with the status of all legislation that has been submitted and a livestream of the House chamber on days we are in session.
As always, if you have any questions or need support in navigating the legislative process, government programs or anything else, please reach out!
Rep. Maureen “Mo” Terry, D-Gorham, is serving her fourth term in the Maine House of Representatives. She is the House majority leader, where she serves as head of the Democratic caucus. Outside of her legislative work, Rep. Terry is a chef and small business owner. Contact her at maureen.terry@legislature.maine.gov.