Category Archives: Veto

Katz Agonistes

Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold Sorry to mix  literary metaphors, but last night’s endless session convened for a series of final votes represented a set-back … Continue reading

Posted in Governor LePage, Maine Legislature, Veto, Voting Behavior | Leave a comment

Day of the Long Knives

With nothing more than a pen, Gov. LePage produced one of the most dramatic days in Maine gubernatorial history. Adding 21 vetoes in a single day to his previous record number of 57 vetoes, the man has out-no’ed any Maine … Continue reading

Posted in Governor LePage, Maine Legislature, Veto, Voting Behavior | Leave a comment

Unwell

I’m disappointed. I’d hoped that the many, many reasons to accept the free federal money to cover Maine citizens would add up to legislators’ passing LD 1066. I also failed to look carefully at the original House vote and hadn’t … Continue reading

Posted in Governor LePage, Health Care, Maine Economy, Maine Legislature, Veto | Leave a comment

Right on, Prof. Krehbiel!

Maine’s biennial budget, which Gov. LePage has promised to veto, has passed both the House and Senate. Hooray for a first step towards no shut-down!  We haven’t seen the veto yet, which the governor has announced he will delay in … Continue reading

Posted in Governor LePage, Maine Legislature, Veto, Voting Behavior | Leave a comment

Pivot Points, or why we might believe Sen. Katz on MaineCare

Political scientist Keith Krehbiel developed an interesting theory of legislative behavior called “pivot theory” – it’s often been applied to understand US Congressional behavior, but I just came back from a conference where I saw it applied to state legislatures … Continue reading

Posted in Health Care, Maine Legislature, Veto, Voting Behavior | 1 Comment

More recent context for LePage vetoes

Scott Thistle’s great historical perspective on Governor LePage’s veto streak offers a useful long-term view on the recent vetoes but misses something important about the more immediate historical perspective. Maine (and New England in general) are places with relatively low … Continue reading

Posted in Governor LePage, National Politics, Veto | Leave a comment

Maps, Part 2

WELL. Certainly some additions to make to the veto post below! However, I am not going to do that currently. Instead, I am exploring the use of Google’s Map Builder Lite to look at geographic distributions of legislators by party … Continue reading

Posted in Elections, Governor LePage, Maine Legislature, Veto, Voting Behavior | Leave a comment

“We will have to work and communicate with each other and with the chief executive”

Governor LePage’s unexpected entry into today’s emergency meeting of the Appropriations and Fiscal Affairs Committee provides yet another cliff-hanger in the dramatic series of interactions between legislators and the governor. (In other news, why yes, we will all be tuning … Continue reading

Posted in Governor LePage, Maine Legislature, Veto, Voting Behavior | 1 Comment

Envisioning legislative vote changing and the LePage veto in the 126th Maine State Legislature

The Portland Press Herald is exploring the shift in vote among Republican state representatives on LD 6, the bill that would allow municipalities to decide whether or not they want to require their superintendent to live within the school district. … Continue reading

Posted in Governor LePage, Maine Legislature, Veto, Voting Behavior | 4 Comments