On Tuesday, Governor Janet Mills of Maine signed a supplemental budget that she billed as beneficial to seniors’ facilities, hospitals, and small businesses.
The final surplus revenue budget revisions of almost $40 million were approved by a wide margin by the Maine legislature. Much of the surplus from the previous budget year was used to provide $450 in relief payments to 880,000 Mainers.
Mills expressed gratitude to the Legislature for their bipartisan support and expressed optimism that it will carry over into the development of her proposed $10.3 billion budget for the next two years.
There are no new programs included in the supplemental budget that updates the budget that runs through the end of June; but, it does include extra money for a wide range of requirements, such as increased support for nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Includes funding to continue the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan program’s $50 monthly payments to workers through July in order to maintain affordable health insurance.
It keeps $10 million in the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan for possible Portland Harbor dredging, among other things.
Legal fees can be raised by the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services from $80 to $150 per hour.