LePage says he didn't sign emergency budget bill because of provision he proposed

Gov. Paul LePage’s office said today that the reason he didn’t sign an emergency supplemental budget bill he proposed is because it includes money for Efficiency Maine, which uses taxpayer funds to administer energy efficiency programs in Maine.

LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett told the Associated Press that LePage is concerned about Maine’s high energy costs, which he said are 11th highest in the nation.

But here’s the wrinkle in that argument: The $664,000 in current-year funding for the Efficiency Maine Trust that was included in the bill — which is now in law without LePage’s signature — is exactly as the LePage administration proposed it. According to both the original bill and chaptered law, the money is meant to help the Efficiency Maine Trust program “align with projected natural gas assessments.”

The program, which funds weatherization and heating efficiency programs, has been a target of LePage in the past. In 2013, he proposed cutting some funding for those programs in favor of re-routing funding to curtail electricity rates for select industries. That bill died in committee.

Read more: http://stateandcapitol.bangordailynews.com/2017/03/16/lepage-says-he-didnt-sign-emergency-budget-bill-because-of-provision-he-proposed/