AUGUSTA, Maine — Under Wednesday's bluebird skies, no one at the Maine State House seemed to want to spend too much time indoors.
Tasked with acting on dozens of wide-ranging pieces of legislation, the House and Senate played document ping pong, with a lot of breaks. After passing some initial bills and working through formalities like recognizing guests in the chamber and honoring departed public servants, Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, put the Senate "at ease" at 11:30 a.m., awaiting bills sitting in the House to be sent back over.
Among those bills, the House passed one that would extend up to $2 million in tax credits over 15 years to the parent company of the Portland Sea Dogs, the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, to help pay for facility upgrades to the team's stadium at Hadlock Field. Opponents like Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, argued this was a matter between the team and the city of Portland, which owns the stadium, and that the team's hedge fund ownership could easily cover the costs themselves.
"If we want to support the Sea Dogs, then let’s buy season tickets. But let’s not ask Maine taxpayers to foot a $2 million bill," Libby said on the House floor.
Proponents of the bill, like fellow Republican Sawin Millett of Waterford, said he doesn't want to risk losing the Maine's professional baseball team to another state.
"I do not view this as anything but an opportunity to prevent financiers from out of state luring a successful franchise away from this grand state," Millett said.
The Senate returned, and the lunches and ping pong match continued.
By 5 p.m., the Senate passed a final version of a bill mandating a 72-hour waiting period for buying and receiving a firearm. It passed by one vote, as it had in the House the day before. It now awaits action by the governor.
By 6 p.m., the House passed a bill that would allow for an offshore wind turbine terminal on Sears Island.
As the sun began to cast shadows on the granite building, two major tests remained—a bill aimed at providing relief to towns impacted by severe winter storms and the governor's supplemental budget.
Gov. Janet Mills wrote an open letter to the legislature Wednesday morning, saying she wanted the disaster relief bill just as it was, and would veto it if it was amended. She also implored lawmakers to send the current version of the budget to her for her signature.
Specific amendments were unknown as of early Wednesday night, but legislators from each major party and each chamber warned the media and public to settle in for a fight.
"This will be ugly and contentious," one Republican House member told NEWS CENTER Maine.
Jackson told his peers he did not intend to extend the session, as the previous one had dragged along, but he could not assure them they would head home any time soon.