Govs Get It Done: Maine Governor Janet Mills Signs Bipartisan State Budget

The budget expands access to health care, invests in education, provides property tax relief, and saves for a rainy day

Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills yesterday signed a nearly $8 billion two-year state budget that was enacted with bipartisan support. The budget expands health care access in the state, improves Maine’s public education system, provides property tax relief, and invests in the state’s Rainy Day Fund.
Among other accomplishments, the budget sustainably funds MaineCare expansion, allocates $5 million to support domestic violence and sexual assault services, raises the state share of education funding to nearly 51 percent, and allocates an additional $75 million in property tax relief for Mainers.
Read more about what the bipartisan budget accomplishes below:
The Portland Herald: Gov. Mills signs 2-year state budget totaling nearly $8 billion
Gov. Janet Mills signed a two-year, nearly $8 billion budget Monday that she said includes “meaningful and important steps to invest in Maine’s future.” Flanked by legislative leaders and lawmakers from both parties, Mills praised the bipartisan cooperation involved in crafting a budget that increases funding for education and social services without raising taxes. The two-year budget also provides additional revenue sharing to municipalities, seeks to move the state toward a new $40,000 minimum teacher salary and hires dozens more child protection workers.
Maine Public: Mills Signs Two-Year State Budget
Gov. Janet Mills praised the bipartisan budget as one that addresses crucial needs of the state like property tax relief, increased funding for education, money to pay for expanded health care for the poor and investments in the state’s future.
Central Maine: Our View: Maine budget’s drama-free passage a good sign
It puts resources into health care, education and local property tax relief, responding to the priorities voters expressed during the 2018 election. It does this without raising taxes, keeping a commitment Mills made in her campaign. It sets the course for state government for the two-year period that begins July 1, to the extent that it’s possible to see that far into the future in an uncertain world.