Chaos In Maine: Gov. LePage Botches Veto Of 19 Bills He Opposed
The office of Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) and the clerk in the Maine House are in disagreement over the fate of 19 bills that the governor apparently did not veto in time to prevent them from becoming law. One of the bills grants welfare benefits to some immigrants, which LePage vehemently campaigned against in 2014.
As the Bangor Daily News reported Tuesday evening, LePage appeared to be attempting to use the parliamentary procedure known as the pocket veto. By not signing the bills and "pocketing" them, LePage could under some circumstances have effectively vetoed them. In theory, that would have allowed the proposals to die without legislators having a chance to override his veto. But the pocket veto only works if the legislature has adjourned after the end of the secondregular session. And there is the rub.
The clerk of the Maine House told TPM Wednesday morning that the legislature, which is nearing the end of the first regular session, has not adjourned. By not vetoing the bills within the required 10-day period, LePage allowed the bills the opposed -- some ferociously -- to become law.
But LePage's office is now claiming the legislature did adjourn. "The Legislature passed a joint order on June 30, 2015 to adjourn—not to 'recess,'” LePage's office said in a Wednesday email to TPM.
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