Jul. 13—The Legislature's budget writing committee wrapped up its work early Thursday, leaving many major bills without funding even though they passed both chambers.
Measures to invest in the social safety net, waive tuition for certain University of Maine students, increase starting pay for teachers, raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and boost behavioral health support for public school students are among those that did not receive funding from the Legislature this year.
Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, who co-chairs the committee, said lawmakers hope some of the more than 130 bills that were carried over to the second regular session could receive funding in next year's supplemental budget.
"There were many things we had wanted to fund and weren't able to, so we're eager to have these bills carried over," Rotundo said shortly after midnight Wednesday.
If those bills are not funded next year, they will die on the table, despite being passed by committees and then in both chambers.
State government, which is firmly controlled by Democrats, has experienced historic revenues and budget growth since the pandemic, buoying the hopes of advocates looking to increase state investments in programs and conservatives seeking income tax relief.
Nonpartisan revenue forecasters have predicted, however, that the days of flush revenues could be coming to an end as federal officials try to slow the economy to reduce inflation. Lawmakers seem to be heeding that warning, spending cautiously and mostly on one-time expenses.
About 266 bills seeking more than $1.5 billion in funding over the next two years were competing for a relatively small pool of funding, between $10 million and $12 million. That was the money left unappropriated by the governor's $10.3 billion budget.
The budget still contains a "cushion" of $27 million to $29 million for unexpected expenses, according to spokespeople for legislative Democrats.
In all, 123 of the bills seeking funding were recommended for passage, including 26 bills already included in the budget that Gov. Janet Mills signed this week. Another 37 bills were approved after lawmakers determined they would not require additional spending or could be paid for out of agencies' existing budgets.
The committee endorsed several bills seeking to address the state's opioid epidemic, including funding a study on the creation of a safe consumption site, where people could use illicit drugs under medical supervision to try to prevent overdoses and connect them with treatment. Such centers are against federal law, but pilot projects are in operation elsewhere, including New York City.