Gov. Janet Mills signed a $519 million supplemental budget into law on Friday, a day after it passed along party lines in the Maine Senate.
Mills signed the budget while visiting Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor to talk about the state’s free community college program, which will be made permanent as part of the budget.
The budget passed along party lines, 18-16, in Thursday’s vote in the Democratic-controlled Maine Senate.
Republican lawmakers took issue with the governor’s plan to send $300 relief checks to lower-income Mainers, with some calling it a campaign gimmick by Mills, who’s running for U.S. Senate.
Republicans have also blasted a new Millionaire’s Tax in the budget, saying it will drive job creators out of the state.
Democrats say the two percent surcharge on income over a million dollars ensures that wealthy people are paying their fair share.
Democrats also say the $300 relief checks will be sent out to more than 500,000 Mainers who are struggling with the rising cost of living.
Shortly after the budget’s passage, Gov. Mills said in a statement, “This budget will deliver significant relief to Maine people facing rising prices because of the shortsighted actions of the Trump Administration.”
The supplemental budget is an addition to the two-year, $11.65 billion budget passed last year.
