Senate overrides LePage veto of raise for Riverview workers

AUGUSTA — The Maine Senate on Monday voted overwhelmingly to override Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill to provide sorely needed raises for employees at the embattled, state-owned Riverview Psychiatric Center.

The override vote succeeded after a 34-1 vote. Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, was the lone senator to oppose the bill, LD 1645, “An Act to Address Employee Recruitment and Retention Issues at State Mental Health Institutions.”

“Today, the Senate did the right thing for the committed, hardworking employees at Riverview, who work long hours under sometimes difficult conditions to help Mainers with severe mental illness,” said Sen. Anne Haskell, D-Portland, the lead Senate Democrat on the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee. “This bill will help recruitment at the understaffed hospital, and address the high turnover that has made it hard to run the hospital effectively.”

After the Senate vote, the House also overrode the veto. The bill will now become law.

###