AUGUSTA, Maine — In a press conference Wednesday, Gov. Janet Mills explained her reasonings behind "pocket vetoing" several bills after lawmakers presented them to her last week.
In a letter sent Tuesday, Mills said she will not sign 35 bills enacted on Veto Day due to several concerns she has with the Legislature.
"I had discussions and my staff had discussions with leadership on both sides, in both houses," Gov. Mills said. "There's a lot of merit to many of [the bills]."
Mills went on to explain some of those bills goes against her warnings to members on the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee last week, who spent more than the 11.4 Million dollars allotted to them through the General Fund but instead offset spending through special revenue accounts.
Mills also says she objects the work lawmakers made to enact the several bills on Veto Day, which is normally spent to only overturn vetoes by Maine's governor.
"It's unprecedented for the Legislature to have taken up that much business on Veto Day," Mills said. "If they were allowed to become law, it would have been subject to serious legal question."
An additional letter sent by Secretary of the Senate Darek Grant on the matter, Grant explains that the 35 bills were presented to the governor on Friday, May 10.
According to Grant, the governor initially refused the bills which goes against Maine's state constitution. Afterwards, the governor accepted the bills which are still considered to be presented on May 10, although they were physically accepted later in time due to legal reasons.
Maine state Republicans say they believe the matter is reflective of poor planning by Democratic leadership.
"[The Legislature set] for all practical purposes, a wedding date for April 18," Sen. Jeffrey Timberlake said. "Most of those were small bills that waited till the end, and they didn't get funded in the first time around in the budget, so they couldn't have been that important."
The bills in question concerned everything from health care, tax breaks for veterans and more. Democratic Rep. Valli Geiger says while she somewhat understands the position the governor is in, she is disappointed that many bills won't be taken up until lawmakers reconvene in January.
"If she had maintained her stance on Friday and said 'You were not in session for other business besides vetoes,' I could understand that," Rep. Geiger said.
Despite the setback for supporters of the 35 bills, several hundred bills that did pass through the governor's desk will soon go into effect.
"All of those things got done this year and this session overall," Gov. Mills added. "And so, I'm proud of that and I'm sure the Legislature, they should be proud of that as well."
Mills says she plans to take up the bills not signed when lawmakers reconvene next year.