Democrats put challenge Gov's hospital payment plan
Democratic lawmakers are challenging the constitutionality of a proposal by Gov. Paul LePage to use proceeds from a renegotiated state wholesale liquor distribution contract to pay $186 million in debt the state owes hospitals.
The Sun Journal reported Democratic leader Sen. Seth Goodall is calling back to a 2009 opinion from Maine Attorney General Janet Mills, which said that paying current state expenditures with proceeds from the sale of state bonds would violate Maine's constitution.
Goodall has also submitted a competing liquor contract renegotiation bill, which is not tied to a plan to pay the state's MaineCare debt to hospitals.
LePage's legal adviser, Mike Cianchette, told the paper that Mills' opinion pertained to general obligation bonds, not revenue bonds as proposed in LePage's bill. The two, he said, are different and he expressed confidence that LePage's proposal would stand up to any constitutional challenge.
The challenge from Democrats comes as LePage on Wednesday reiterated a threat to veto all bills that cross his desk until a deal to repay the state's hopsital debt is passed. When paid, the state's $186 million would trigger another $298 million federal payment to cover treatment delivered to patients covered under MaineCare.
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