Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) told House Republicans that if they can’t support raising taxes as outlined in her budget, then they should expect her to sign whatever proposal legislative Democrats put on her desk, including a potential increase in Maine’s income tax.
According to House Republican leaders, the Mills Administration informed GOP lawmakers that she would pursue a Democrats-only budget that included tax increases during the Friday, Jan. 10 briefing — even before she had formally released her plan, LD 208.
Last Friday, Jeremy Kennedy, the governor’s chief of staff, and Kirsten Figueroa, the Commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS), delivered a simple message to Republicans: you don’t matter.
Kennedy and Figueroa related the governor’s position just hours before the administration released a controversial plan to increase taxes and spending, even as the state faces a severe revenue shortfall for the next three years.
Gov. Mills’ budget would increase taxes on cigarette smokers, internet streaming services, recreational cannabis, ambulances, and hospitals.
The higher taxes are necessary, they’ve argued, because Maine is now facing a forecasted budget gap of $450 million for FY 26-27 and a deficit of $118 million for current-year spending on welfare.
However, despite the structural gap in revenue versus spending, the budget would increase spending allocated to nearly every state agency. It would also grow the number of state jobs even as the state currently has more than 1,500 job vacancies it has not been able to fill.
“They had to know that many taxes were DOA [Dead On Arrival] with us,” said House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor).
Faulkingham said he’s expecting the same “playbook” the Democratic majority has run in previous sessions, which means accusing the GOP of wanting to “shutdown” the state government and then passing a far left spending and tax package amid a sense of impending crisis.
“We were told clearly, and with a chuckle, in the meeting that the reality is Democrats don’t need us to agree to a budget and any protestations we make won’t matter in the end,” said Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith (R-Palermo).
Following the briefing, Faulkingham and Smith joined Senate Republicans for a press statement expressing their opposition to any two-year spending deal that increased taxes.
According to Republican leaders, such a deal would not get a single GOP vote.
[RELATED: Republicans Cheer on Mills as She Signs Largest Tax Increase in Decades…]
The Mills Administration hasn’t explained, either privately to House Republicans or publicly in comments to the press, why Maine must maintain spending at the elevated levels achieved during the pandemic thanks to federal spending—let alone increase spending even more—now that federal pandemic grants have dried up.
With a boost from the federal money printer, Mills was able to grow state spending from $7.6 billion in FY 2019-2020 to $10.3 billion in FY 2022-2023 and a proposed $11.63 billion in spending for FY 2026-2027. But with President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, every indication suggests that the spigot of easy federal dollars is about to be turned off.
The brazenly partisan (but also accurate) comments from Mills’ top staffers suggest that Democrats in the 132nd Legislature are not even going to pretend to be interested in a bipartisan budget this year, as they have in previous years. Nor will they maintain the pretense that some Democrats, like Mills when she was campaigning for re-election in 2022, are opposed to raising taxes.
The Mills Administration’s comments to Republican leaders also suggest that Democrats are confident every House Democrat and Senate Democrat will do as their told when it comes to voting for a partisan budget. That’s a high degree of confidence considering newly elected Democratic caucus members have barely finished orientation.
But House Speaker Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) doesn’t necessarily have to corral rank-and-file lawmakers into supporting Mills’ tax hike package. The alternative would be for House Democrats to craft something more palatable to the progressive southern Maine liberals who tend to run the caucus.
Already, there are indications in the State House that Mills’ budget has irked more progressive Democrats by relying primarily on an increased cigarette tax to generate new revenue. Since poorer Mainers are more likely to smoke, the tax will disproportionately be paid by lower-income individuals and families.
Progressives in the legislature may be more likely to rally around something like LD 229. That bill, introduced by Rep. Ann Higgins Matlack (D-St. George), amounts to a big tax increase on Mainers who report more than $144,500 in annual income.
Far-left Democrats introduce a version of the so-called “Millionaire Tax” in every legislative session, and the kinds of outside groups that get large grants from progressive billionaires have long advocated for such a tax scheme.
But this tax-the-rich plan is worth paying attention to considering it’s co-sponsored by Rep. Melanie Sachs (D-Freeport), the former House Chair of the Appropriations Committee who was key to the budget shenanigans last session.
Instead of Governor Mills, she should be referred to as Gavin Mills. She’s and her ilk are responsible for figuratively burning down this state.
Twot.
When they wag their finger at you, it s a fascist dictator you re looking at
Janet Mills is an enemy of Maine taxpayers .
She should be impeached .
What an absolute disappointment to the Real Maine People .
A hero to illegals and Somalis YES ….to Real Mainers NO .
Republicans need to start pointing out that Democrats’ spending on illegals and special interests are why the state is broke then let the Dems own the tax and spend bulloney.
Too bad the Maine propaganda machine will run cover for Mills.
Now you see what true democrat evil looks like!
She is blowing in the wind, just shriveling up.
Let her dangle.
Wow…
The Democratic solution to everything is a tax. They do NOT care about the average Maine family keeping more of the money they earn. Mainer’s foolish enough to work hard are just a wallet to be endlessly fleeced. The GOP needs to openly document how much illegals and asylum seekers are adding to the costs of state and local welfare, healthcare, housing, and education. They need to document how much the grandiose “Green Deal” is adding to subsidy costs. And on and on…bring light to the numbers for all to see.
Is the US committing suicide: https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/17/politics/us-debt-federal-budget-deficit
Let them, do not play her games. They got us into this mess do not bail them out. Why not just raise the sales tax?
Janet! What are you thinking? This will not solve your problem. Stop the STUPID STUPID STUPID spending.
Maine voters should have known – they had a chance for fiscal responsibility, but as usual they voted stupidly to reelect Mills.
Sane Mainers will continue to be victimized as long as the lemmings continue to blindly vote against their interests and the interests of all Mainers by electing Communist Democrat politicians!
Maine Republicans must find and fully support competent charismatic candidates that can defeat the Communists !
For unlawful carnal knowledge-ing Can’t understand normal thinking.
Vote in Stupid you get Stupid!
” Rep. Ann Higgins Matlack (D-St. George), amounts to a big tax increase on Mainers who report more than $144,500 in annual income.” Karl Marx: “TO EACH ACCORDING TO THEIR NEED, FROM EACH ACCORDING TO THEIR ABILITY”
Mills must be out of her mind, raise taxes while still hiring for do nothing jobs for more of her immigrant friends, Maine people are hurting and Mills wants more, why do the real Mainers put up with this dictatorship! C’mon man!
I wonder if our new MEGOP chair will comment on drastic tax hikes in order to keep the ideology factory in motion. We never heard from our previous party leader,
This needs to be banged on loud and often as this effects every one of us.
Why do I think the indifference through silence will continue? I would love to be wrong on this.
And she wants to go to DC.
The 16% increase in resident hunting/fishing license and 5% increase in non-resident license is also a “tax” increase. Is there any way that we Mainers can take back our government and reduce the “pain and suffering”? It’s a long time to next gubernatorial election.
Seems to be a contest among the Blue States, who can have the ugliest woman governor with the crappiest policies. Been going on a while.
Clearly the People of Maine love her? They voted her in a second term? I knew she would ruin the once Great State of Maine when she stepped foot into the Governor Mansion.
I got out as soon as humanly possible(2021). Escaped the insanity that is now Maine! I left the State that I lived my entire life in because I knew I could not afford to stay in Maine. I figured if I was going to be poor, I was going to be warm and poor!
There is no blame to be placed on the Republican Party of Maine. Democrats hold the majority and do not need any support from the Republicans to perform their Evil! General Mills has issued Republican’s her Threat! That is what Politics in Maine has become. It is criminal what has happening in Maine politically!
Republicans need to hold fast and continue the fight just the way they have. Be informative to the people through any form of media that will truthfully report their position. It needs to be affirmed that Republican Leadership does not support any of the insane Democratic Agenda.
I remember an old saying my farther always use to say “You Can’t Fight City Hall”, but you can vote them out of office! Mills’s and the Democratic Party will eventually Bury Themselves?
All tax increases should be presented to the citizens of Maine before any signature! Mills needs to cut spending, remove the illegals and balance the budget. Democrats do nothing but spend, spend, spend without any thought for the people they are hurting. She needs to increase the number of jobs and encourage spending… not taxation.
We the people are praying for this oppressor and her minions to be corrected!
Okay, the gloves are off. Mills statement sounds like a threat to Republican legislators and Maine voters. If anyone knows how to draw up a legal petition for “RECALL” OR “REMOVAL FROM OFFICE”, I would be happy to print and circulate them across the state. We need to recall not only the governor but all the democrat legislators. We also need to get rid of the RCV that Mills brought in here. It was designed to get democrats elected. We don’t work for the governor or the legislature. They work for us! And if they can’t do what’s best or the people of Maine, they need to be removed!
We’re outta here in April and moving to Florida. This place is bat shit crazy.
Hi all,
I love your enthusiasm, but let’s face it, most of the Maine population has an IQ of the lamp post.
It makes me wonder how much of the budget short fall is in part that heist the Mills administration claims is rebuilding & repairing the faulty heating & air conditioners filled with So-called asbestos. Or is it just a front for hiding illegal Immigrants in the cellar. Its absolutely clear there was no end date to the remodeling project only a on going open pit to dump money into a project with no completion date. The Maine state library posts on its website the Maine state library is closed indefinitely.
People we are heading into a 5 year so called remodeling job with no end in site.
When a normal person like a home owner remodels there home or a business owner does a make over of there business and most of all clearly before signing the contract; they want to know how long the remodel of said project is going to take to complete!!!
Clear case of open checkbook!!!
I’d like to see Billy Bob run for Collin’s seat in the next election, and a serious effort to putting Republicans in the majority at the State House. The Democrats have shown just how much damage they can do both locally and country wide in the recent past.They need to go.
Add these taxes to the Public Policy charge on our light bill, then add the new Family Leave payroll tax. Then consider all the property tax increases. When will it be enough? If we don’t stand up soon they’ll have everything we earn.
INVEST IN DEPORTATION, JANET!!
I hope she rots in hell.
SOCIALIST DEMOCRATS in Maine will destroy the state unless we remove them from office. Toad Mills will burn the state to the ground before she gives up power!
Maine won’t survive 2 more years before we can rid the state of her malignancy!
But sadly, Maine Republicans are weak.
They are cowards.
Toad Mills speaks, and they cowar in fear.
We need WARRIORS, not eunuchs, fighting Maine Socialist Democrats!
Today American Patriots took back our beloved country from the incompetent lunatic Socialist Democrats!
When will we fight to take back our beloved state from the incompetent lunatic Socialist Democrats?
Janet Mills, referred as the joe biden of maine, issued a pardon for Aaron Nichols who was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl and having unlawful sexual contact with another teen in 2001. Mills served as Nichols’ legal counsel during his early 2000s assault case which is huge conflict of interest.
Too bad Maine people are so gullible and reeelcted her. Shame on them. They had the chance to save the state with LePage and they blew it. So thankful we got out!!