Dems say governor should make secret plans for special session public

Augusta – Democratic leaders said today the governor should make his secret plans for a special session public now.  According to the Bangor Daily News Blogger Mike Tipping, Governor Paul LePage told a room of donors at a private GOP-only fundraiser in Bangor last night that he planned to call the Legislature back into a special session before the November election in order to enact a policy that will “push the envelope.”

According to the blog post which included a recording of LePage’s comments, the governor said the purpose of the session would be to pass legislation that other “Republican states have done this year.”

LePage also said, “I think we can get it done in about a day and the Democrats, if you think they hate me now… Wow.”

Democratic leaders released the following statements in response:

“We’d like to remind the governor that he doesn’t only represent his Republican campaign donors,” said Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, the Assistant Democratic leader in the state Senate. “He needs to stop his divisive politics and start doing what the people of Maine hired us all to do – and that’s to get our economy back on track.”

“The governor is sharing a secret plan to spend taxpayer dollars for political purposes with lobbyists and GOP campaign donors,” said Rep. Emily Cain, the House Democratic leader. “Worse, he is making partisan political threats and keeping the public in the dark. He should make his plans public now.”