Part of the state government in Maine was
shuttered on Saturday after lawmakers were unable to send a two-year budget to
the liking of Republican Paul LePage, who
promised the shutdown if he sent a
fiscal plan that did not include spending cuts.
The governor's order for a partial shutdown of
non-essential government services went into effect at 12:01 a.m. local time
after a bipartisan effort in the state legislature failed to send a $7.055
billion two-year budget that included no new taxes to the second-term
Republican.
"This is about the future of Maine. The
Maine people are taxed enough. I will not tax them anymore and in my budget
overall taxes were decreased," LePage said in a statement announcing the
shutdown.
Lawmakers in both chambers of the full
legislature worked throughout the day to send a budget to LePage after a
six-member bipartisan budget committee reached a deal on a proposed budget late
on Thursday night.
The proposed budget repealed a measure that
voters approved in November to impose an additional 3 percent income tax on
state residents who earn more than $200,000 a year. The proposed budget also
increases public education funding by $162 million.
The state Republican-controlled Senate passed
the proposed budget with a 34-1 vote, but the Democrat-controlled House failed
to reach the required two-thirds vote later in the day, leading to no budget
measure being sent to the governor.
REUTERS
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