The Maine House and Senate will convene for legislative session at 10 am on Tuesday, as uncertainty over the supplemental budget persists, a joint conference of both chambers is scheduled to hear about the state of higher education in Maine, and two largely symbolic but potentially contentious resolutions are on the agenda.

LD 209, the bill that is the vehicle for Governor Janet Mills’ $118 million supplemental budget request, remains tabled in the Senate. If the Senate leaves it on the table, they will burn another week until the legislature meets again. Yet timing becomes an issue. The legislature must adjourn early, instead of the statutorily-set April 18th date, in order to have the funds from the supplemental be available by the start of the state’s new fiscal year on July 1st.

Because LD 209 is not currently classified as an emergency bill, it could only take effect 90 days from the Sine Die (final) adjournment of the legislature. April 1st is 90 days from the start of the state’s new fiscal year and the projected early adjournment deadline. The clock is ticking.

The House and Senate are also scheduled to hear reports about the state of the state’s higher education from University of Maine, the Maine Community College system and Maine Maritime Academy.

Rep. Nina Milliken (D-Blue Hill) fresh off of stating on committee mic that there are no deer in northern Maine, has introduced a Resolution condemning genocide in Ukraine.

Milliken’s Resolution titled, ‘JOINT RESOLUTION ACKNOWLEDGING THE HOLODOMOR AS AN ACT OF GENOCIDE AGAINST THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE’ is cosponsored by Republican Chad Perkins of Dover-Foxcroft. The resolution itself is a noble acknowledgement of the brutality of Joseph Stalin’s Communist regime which forcibly starved an estimated 5,000,000 people in the 1930s (Holodymr means ‘famine’ in Ukrainian). The Resolution is a grim reminder of where centralized planning, tyranny and the weaponization of vital resources like food for political objectives can lead.

The timing of Milliken’s resolution coincides with the recent geo-political dust up in the Oval Office between Vice President Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Tensions run high on both sides of the issue, and this may be reflected in debate tomorrow. In the 131st legislature, tensions also ran high with an over sixty-minute debate about a House Resolutions regarding the war in Ukraine.

Also, the Senate’s resolution for Women’s History Month is on the House Calendar for the first time since the censure of Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn). Last Tuesday, the House met for the first time since Libby’s censure. They chose not to stir the pot then while emotions were still raw from the silencing of a woman by a man by bringing up a resolution entitled ‘JOINT RESOLUTION COMMEMORATING WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH AND INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY’.

This resolution may seem boilerplate, but it will be the first time that House Republicans have a chance to speak on an issue regarding women since the Libby censure. Debate may shift to that specific instance of stripping a representative of their voice and vote if Republicans manage to choose their words carefully and not be ruled out of order.

On paper, it looks like tomorrow may be a quick session to allow time for the joint session on the state of higher education. Legislative committee work is also scheduled to begin at 1pm. Things can always change in Augusta at any given moment. If the supplemental budget is taken up or we have an hours long debate about foreign policy about Ukraine, it could be a longer day under the dome. Only time will tell.

Follow the Maine Wire on X and Facebook for up to the minute news for Tuesday’s legislative session.