Janet Mills Will Not Sign Bills Passed by Lawmakers on Veto Day

Gov. Janet Mills (D) made it known Tuesday that she will not be signing into law the thirty-five bills passed by lawmakers this past Friday on “Veto Day.”

The final day of the Legislative session in Maine is colloquially referred to as “Veto Day” because it is typically set aside for lawmakers to consider whether or not to overturn any vetoes that have been issued by the governor.

This year, however, lawmakers also used this time to approve thirty-five new bills that were subsequently sent to Gov. Mills for consideration.

In a letter shared with members of the Legislature Tuesday, Mills explained that she will not sign any of these measures into law, irrespective of her stance on their objectives.

“This is not a decision that I have reached lightly, especially given that I see value in — and would support — many of these bills otherwise,” Mills wrote.

The governor went on to categorize her objections to these bills into two categories: the long-term fiscal impact of this legislation and the process by which these measures were adopted.

“First, as an initial matter — and as I have previously expressed — I have concerns about the long-term fiscal impact of some of these bills, particularly in light of flattening revenues and the need to sustain the existing commitments we have made to important programs, like 55 percent of school funding, MaineCare provider rates, and school meals for K-12 students, among others,” Mills wrote.

“Second, and more fundamentally, I object to the Legislature enacting dozens of additional bills after its adjournment deadline — on a day reserved for the consideration of vetoes,” said the governor.

“The Legislature has great discretion when it comes to the manner in which it considers and enacts bills, subject only to Constitutional limitations,” Mills continued. “In this case, however, it did not adhere to its Constitutionally directed adjournment deadline.”

Mills goes on to explain that the Constitution requires the Legislature to establish an adjournment deadline in statute, which this year fell on April 17.

Prior to their adjournment on this date, lawmakers had two options to extend their session, either by amending the adjournment statute or agreeing by a two-thirds vote in each chamber to extend the session by up to five days.

Instead of pursuing either of these options, however, Mills explains that lawmakers simply utilized Veto Day to conduct other unfinished business.

“In my judgement, the Constitution cannot be interpreted to permit the Legislature to ignore its Constitutionally required adjournment statute by a simple majority vote,” Mills said. “Otherwise, the Constitution’s requirement to establish an adjournment deadline in statute would be meaningless, and the statutory adjournment deadline would have no practical effect.”

Mills goes on to suggest that there appears to be no precedent for the Legislature to consider and enact bills on veto day without at least having the “implied consent” of two-thirds of both chambers.

“Operating in this way leaves me gravely concerned because it is an erosion of important norms that are central to the conduct of public business and the creation of public policy,” Mills wrote.

“Signing any of these bills, no matter how much I may see value in some of them, would send the message that the Legislature is allowed to flout its own self-imposed and Constitutionally-imposed limitations, which would create a precedent for future legislatures to do the same, and subject the bills to the threat of serious legal challenge,” said Mills.

The governor went on to argue that “constitutional norms” and “institutional safeguards” must be maintained “no matter how inconvenient” they may be, “even when they may be an impediment to achieving good policy aims.”

“My decision not to sign these bills is intended to protect this norm, to reject what would be a harmful precedent, and to provide an institutional check that, while difficult in the short term, is beneficial for the long-term conduct of business and the creation of public policy,” Mills concluded. “I remain committed to examining the important issues that these bills attempt to address during the next Legislature.”

Click Here to Read the Full Letter Gov. Mills Sent to Lawmakers

According to Maine Public, Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook), Senate Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli (D-Sagadahoc), and Assistant Majority Leader Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland) issued a joint statement responding to the governor’s decision.

“The governor is well within her right to veto the legislation but she owns that veto,” they said. “To case aspersions on the Legislature or claim that the Legislature acted in appropriately is not only wrong but not for (the) chief executive to determine.”

“That was an ongoing conversation in the House,” said House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor), according to Fox 23 Maine, “that House Republicans didn’t think we should be doing work that day that wasn’t sticking to vetoes.”

In a video posted to Facebook showing House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Portland) returning to the State House late Friday night after reportedly attempting to speak with the governor in an effort to convince her to consider these bills, Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) also discussed the Legislature’s last-minute Veto Day efforts.

[RELATED: Janet Mills Wouldn’t Let Rachel Talbot Ross Enter Blaine House]

“The shenanigans that have been going on all throughout this session continue even down to the very last minute, as the Democrats grasp at straws and try to salvage their bills that they want to get across the finish line,” Rep. Libby said.

Absent a signature from the governor, the thirty-five pieces of legislation approved by lawmakers Friday will not become law.