By: Rep. Kilton Webb, House District 98
Every two years, the Maine Legislature is responsible for drafting a state budget that works for all Maine people – an almost impossible task given the variety of issues and challenges that affect all of us. While each community that I serve here in House District 98 – Durham, Pownal, and parts of Bowdoin, Lisbon and Topsham – is different, there is a core set of challenges each of us face, from growing property taxes to grocery affordability to issues paying for quality childcare.
On March 20, the Legislature voted to enact LD 609, a responsible, continuing services budget. The final vote was 76-66 in the House and 18-17 in the Senate.
After multiple back and forth negotiations, Senate Republicans demonstrated that they were more interested in being obstructionists than responsible legislators. While it’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to pass a bipartisan measure, not passing a budget at all would have resulted in a government shutdown, which would have happened on July 1, and a substandard measure would have hurt our communities.
This continuing services budget ensures the state pays its bills to our hospitals, nursing homes and pharmacies, making sure that patients can continue getting the care that they need. It also funds 55% of K-12 public education and municipal revenue sharing, giving towns and cities some financial certainty as they work to craft their local budgets.
This funding is now needed more than ever.
For example, over the past few weeks, the federal government has frozen funding for school meal programs in Maine. Luckily, this budget keeps free breakfast and lunch available to all students. Additionally, it maintains funding for child care providers, sustains critical funding for behavioral health care services, honors our free community college commitment for Maine students already enrolled, protects Maine forests by remediating a severe spruce budworm outbreak and so much more.
Without this critical state funding, the burden of municipal costs for local services would directly fall even more on local residents and lead to an even bigger increase in property taxes, which our community simply cannot afford. In fact, there are no new taxes or spending cuts to essential programs in this budget.
In the coming weeks and months, the Legislature intends to take up another budget bill to address additional important policy discussions. We still have a lot to do, and I’m looking forward to continuing to work to make life better for working families in our district and across our state.
This governing budget contains a core set of commitments to the betterment of all Mainers. During a time of deep uncertainty in Washington, D.C., I am focused on providing the financial predictability and stability our community needs.
As always, if you have questions or concerns regarding the budget or if you have ideas for future legislation, you can reach me directly at Kilton.Webb@legislature.maine.gov or call my office at 207-287-1430. If you need assistance navigating state services or have ideas to improve our community, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Rep. Kilton Webb, D-Durham, represents House District 98 in the Maine House of Representatives, which includes Durham, Pownal, and parts of Bowdoin, Lisbon and Topsham. He serves on the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee.