Good morning from Augusta. A day after a judge ordered Gov. Paul LePage’s administration to start implementing a voter-approved Medicaid expansion law, disparate groups will convene at the State House to urge lawmakers to come back to Augusta.
This “politics makes strange bedfellows” moment exemplifies just how much work Maine legislators left undone when they adjourned for 2018 in May without reaching a deal on a spending package, though the budget panel re-convened last week to endorse two bipartisan priorities — raises for direct care workers and jail funding.
More than 100 groups are expected to ask the Legislature on Tuesday to come back, from the university system to community service providers and construction interests. A Monday news release said the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, University of Maine System, Maine Association for Community Service Providers and the Associated General Contractors of Maine will be among them at a 10 a.m. news conference at the State House.
These are groups that don’t get together much, but they have good reason now. The construction industry wants a $100 million transportation bond that the state says would support 2,850 jobs and represents one-third of road and bridge work slated for 2019. The university system wants a $75 million bond for upgrades. Community service providers want those raises.
The County is pleased to feature content from our sister company, Bangor Daily News. To read the rest of “Groups with little in common will unite to lobby Maine Legislature to return,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Michael Shepherd, please follow this link to the BDN online.
