AUGUSTA — With the close of the legislative session only days away, the state’s biennial budget is beginning to take shape, with Democrats doubling down on Gov. Janet Mills’ suggested increase in the state tobacco tax.

On Thursday, Democratic members of the budget committee also advanced an amended version of Mills’ proposal to roll back recent tax cuts for people with pensions. Mills called for rolling back tax cuts on single people making $100,000 in pension income and couples making $200,000, which would lead to tax increases for more than 22,160 people.

Democrats increased those thresholds to $125,000 and $250,000, respectively. 

Republicans blasted both tax increases, repeating a vow to oppose the overall budget and increasing the likelihood of another so-called majority budget, which would delay the release of funding until the fall.

Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle, said “there are no Republican votes” for the budget.

“The reality is Democrats are spending, spending, spending more of your money on their pet projects and are now going to be taxing you more,” he said Thursday. “And that’s going to be done totally on a partisan basis without a single Republican vote.”

House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, noted that the state budget has ballooned from $8 billion to more than $11 billion under Democrats, who have controlled both chambers and the Blaine House since 2019.

“We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem,” he said.

Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, who co-chairs the budget committee, defended members’ work thus far.

“In my 19 years in the Legislature and 17 years on appropriations, we have always worked on budgets in a bipartisan way,” she said in a written statement. “At every step, we’ve been open to collaboration and willing to engage in negotiations. But crafting a responsible, balanced budget requires showing up and doing the work. Maine people expect their elected officials to be part of the solution — not to sit on the sidelines while important decisions are being made about our state’s future.”

Mills had proposed a $1 a pack increase on cigarettes, which was expected to generate $80 million over the next two years. But on Wednesday, Democrats on the budget committee voted in support of increasing that an additional 50 cents, which would raise the tax on cigarettes from $2 a pack to $3.50 a pack.

Mills and Democrats have justified increasing the cigarette tax by framing it as a public health issue and predicting that it would cause more people to quit. The higher increase was praised by the American Cancer Society Action Network.

“We applaud committee members for proposing an additional increase in the state’s tobacco tax,” spokesperson Julia MacDonald said in a written statement. “By increasing the state’s tobacco tax, we can ensure more Mainers who currently smoke will quit, and fewer kids will pick up the deadly addiction in the first place. ACS CAN urges lawmakers to support the inclusion of this tax in the budget.”

Faulkingham criticized the proposal and Democrats’ rationale, saying that it will disproportionately affect lower-income residents who are addicted and can’t simply quit because of higher taxes.

“They always talk about taxing the rich and standing up for poor people, but here they are with a tax that’s going to hit poor people — people who don’t have the disposable income,” he said. “It’s an addiction. People that smoke aren’t instantly going to quit smoking just because the Democrats decide to tax it higher.”

Earlier this session, Democrats used their majority to pass an $11.3 billion continuing services budget that continues to fund 55% of public education and provides $122 million to help stabilize the MaineCare program. But that budget doesn’t include at least $122 million in additional funding needed to fund MaineCare — Maine’s Medicaid program — in the second year of the budget.

The governor’s budget office has said the continuing services budget does not include $285 million in additional spending originally proposed by Mills. Nor did it include any of her proposed tax increases, which would generate an estimated $156 million, or service cuts.

Lawmakers have about up to $120 million in revenue left to allocate, not including any tax or fee increases, Democrats have said.

Since the passage of the continuing services budget, budget negotiations have largely taken place behind closed doors, with lawmakers emerging to conduct votes publicly on specific line items. But it wasn’t until this week that lawmakers began moving some of the more controversial components of the budget, such as tax increases.

The Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, which is charged with reviewing the governor’s budget and recommending a spending plan for the full Legislature, has been finalizing the budget in a series of votes this week. They will have to complete their work soon  if it’s to be ready for floor votes next week, so lawmakers can adjourn on Wednesday, as planned.

In other budget votes this week, the appropriations committee:

• Rejected Mills’ proposed taxes on prescriptions and non-municipal ambulance services, which the governor said would bring in additional federal dollars for Medicaid providers.

• Invested $6 million to improve reimbursement rates for nursing homes, which is expected to trigger $12.2 million in federal funds.

• Invested $34.2 million in child welfare to expand staffing and services to protect at-risk children and support families, as the number of children in state custody has increased. That investment is expected to unlock $27.5 million in additional federal funding.