PORTLAND, Maine — And that's a wrap on the latest legislative session in Augusta. Our analysts talk about if the State House has become more partisan, the criminal trial of former president Donald Trump, and a shield law to protect providers of abortion and gender-affirming care in Maine.
Fiery legislative session end
The legislative session came to an end this week after a late night for lawmakers in Augusta. The supplemental budget and a handful of other bills narrowly crossed the finish line, but not without some drama over that budget process. In the final hours, Republicans and Democrats clashed over a number of amendments.
ZACH: "Garrett, specifically, when it comes to the budget, it seems like there is this new level of animosity between Republicans and Democrats. Is that legit?"
GARRETT: "Oh, it's not just between Republicans and Democrats. I don't I don't know if you can put labels on this specific budget, but it has trended that way for a long time. I would say going back about six, eight years, there's always been a minority budget, a majority budget. And, you know, you're seeing those values play out. I think Senator Vitale said it very well and Senator Rotundo said it very well, that the budget is a statement of priorities and it's a statement of moral values. And, you know, you see that reflected in those amendments. You know, this particular budget battle was wild to watch on the floor. You saw B.J. and I sitting next to each other in that in that that clip. But, you know, I've never quite seen that level of excitement around a budget. So it was interesting."
ZACH: "But is that excitement a sign that Augusta is perhaps becoming more partisan?"
GIA: "Thankfully, I'm not there every day like my counterparts. So I can have a little distance from it. But it's also an election year. And so I think everything gets amped up quite a bit in looking ahead to November. And I think a lot of people in public, politicians are positioning themselves. You know, where they stake their claim. So I think that's part of it as well."
ZACH: "B.J., I also want to talk about the Democrats here. We've been we've been talking about this for a few weeks now, about this divide apparently between Democratic leadership, specifically the Speaker of the House and the Governor's Office and Governor Janet Mills. Is that as real as it appears to be on the outside?"
BJ: "I mean, look, first off, this budget has a lot of good things in it, but it also definitely was lacking. Those were the amendments that Garret was talking about. But at the end of the day, the legislature is different politically than what the governor's world views are, even though they're in the same party. And I think that some of those tensions came up at the end of session as emotions were running high and people were fighting for what they thought was the right step forward, even if the chief executive didn't agree with it."
GARRETT: "I will throw kind of a unifying argument on the end of this. You know, regardless of what you think about the budget, the process is dangerously broken. You know, voting on these type of measures at three in the morning is just it's not good public policy and it can be fixed. Political leaders need to have the courage to fix it."
Trump on trial
In the midst of an election year, former President Donald Trump is back in court. With jury selection wrapping up, his criminal trial in New York is getting underway this week. A handful of jurors were actually dismissed after being selected. Prosecutors even asked Trump to be held in contempt over a series of social media posts. Trump spoke to reporters Thursday, calling President Joe Biden a "crook."
ZACH: "He keeps repeating these lines. But do Republicans really believe that this is all made up?"
GARRETT: "Well, the longer that you continue to indict him and his poll numbers keep going up. So I think you're further driving people who might have been undecided. I mean, you can't help but see that, you know, this is a judge who has a daughter who works for a political consultancy, whose major candidate is Kamala Harris. You know, like that is a conflict in the fact that wasn't noticed is huge. I mean, you have jurors being seated in this case who are filming, you know, Biden-Harris celebrations in the streets. So, I mean, he's not wrong. And, you know, the political persecution of Donald Trump continues."
ZACH: "But, B.J., this is the legal system that we've come to trust in our country. Shouldn't we be trusting it in a process like this?"
BJ: "Well, I mean, look, the fact of the matter is, he's broken the law. And just because he is a president and a political figure with a large following doesn't mean he's above it. And so I absolutely think the way that he has framed this whole debate together, it's point is riling up his base, but it is ignoring the fact that we have somebody running for president who has a lot of legal troubles ahead of him. And I think one of the things I've noticed is the polling does say a lot of people are considering Trump maybe switch their vote if he's convicted of a crime. And I think that's really important."
GIA: "And I think one of the things I've noticed is the polling does say a lot of people are considering Trump may switch their vote if he's convicted of a crime. And I think that's really important."
ZACH: "Do you think that's going to happen?"
GARRETT: "It's the drive towards--Listen 91 counts that day that Democrat DAs or Republicans who are 'Never Trumpers' have driven at Donald Trump. So the goal has always been 'Let's convict Donald Trump.' That's always been the goal. So it's it's getting harder and harder for Democrats and the left to say, look, this isn't a political persecution. It continues and continues."
Shield law passes
Among the controversial issues that passed in Augusta this session was a shield law bill that aims to protect health care workers who provide abortions, as well as gender-affirming care, from legal action brought by other states. A group of attorneys general in 16 states threatened legal action if Maine moved forward with this legislation. Now, if it's signed by Gov. Janet Mills, Maine would join more than a dozen states with similar laws.
ZACH: "Gia, I know you have advocated heavily for this bill. Just want to be transparent about that. Did you experience a lot of pushback?"
GIA: "We definitely felt a lot of weight against this bill, specifically some of the rhetoric and some of the attacks got really violent. There were bomb threats made against the statehouse upon threats made against the sponsors of this bill. For me, the environment really tense. Going to testify to show up in person. And so, you know, and then there were some things said on the House floor that you talked about last week about, you know, the connection between abortion coverage and gender affirming care and in Lewiston, which was outrageous. But this is mostly in response to what's happening across the country where more than 20 states have banned abortion or tried to stop gender affirming care. And we need to make sure Maine, you know, takes care of ourselves, takes care of our medical providers. And I think we're doing the right thing with this whole bill."
ZACH: "How do we have these conversations without that animosity there?"
GARRETT: "Well, I think you have them, honestly. And this is this is I think the bill was aptly named. It is the shield bill, but I don't think it's for the purposes we're talking about. This bill came out in the first tranche of bills in December of 2022. It was worked on in secret, in private for a year and a half. The public hearing that typically happens is a two week notice. This came in 48 hours and the bill language was dropped the day of the public hearing and amended on the on during that public hearing, people had to assume what was in it. So I think it was completely aptly named. Now, you don't do that with bills that you're proud of and that you want to see move forward in an honest way. You do that with bills that you want to push through. I've seen it done a million times in my 14 years like this. You know, so let's let's talk about what the bill does on the other side that people were concerned about, and that's removing influence from parents and guardians and saying and being able to say, go to Maine, get the coverage and the the medical interventions of either abortion or gender affirming care that you want. And if your parents find out, you don't have to tell them and the doctors can't tell them."
BJ: "Well, look, when the Supreme Court struck down Roe v Wade, it was very clear states get to decide how they approach these issues. And this is what's happening. The state is protecting folks who need access to care. Protecting the people who provide that care. And this is directly in line with what the conservatives on the court asked for, which is for states to decide how they approach these issues. And that's exactly what this bill does."
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