AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - The Maine House on Thursday voted down a compromise supplemental budget for a second time, rejecting a compromise proposal from the Senate and imperiling tax breaks businesses and unemployed Mainers.
A compromise crafted in the Senate gained a two-thirds majority Wednesday evening, thanks to support from two Republicans. But the vote failed to reach that level of support Thursday in the House.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills accused House Republicans of failing to bargain in good faith and adopting “an all-or-nothing approach.”
The budget bill would exempt from state taxes federal Paycheck Protection Program loans provided to 28,000-plus Maine businesses during the pandemic. It also would forgive state taxes on the first $10,200 of enhanced unemployment benefits. Together, those proposals amounted to a tax cut of nearly $150 million.
“The failure to pass this commonsense budget is a loss for Maine. It is a loss for our unemployed and for 28,000 small business owners who would get tax relief but are now left to wonder what happens next,” Mills said in a statement. “It is a loss for our critical public health infrastructure which would have been boosted by this bill.”
A two-thirds majority vote in each chamber was necessary for the changes to take place immediately and provide clarity to tax preparers and accountants ahead of the April 15 tax filing deadline.
The parties were originally $32 million apart because Republicans wanted further state tax cuts to conform with federal tax code.
The compromise that emerged in the Senate included an amendment to boost funding for the Maine Bureau of Veterans’ Services to fill several additional staff positions.
But House Republicans wanted deeper cuts for businesses and pressed for a mandate for a two-thirds approval for spending further federal pandemic aid.
The lawmakers gathered Wednesday and Thursday at the Augusta Civic Center to accommodate social distancing during the pandemic. It’s unclear when both chambers will gather again.
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