Majority Democrats in the Maine Legislature approved an $11.3 billion budget in the late hours of Thursday night after repeated and unsuccessful efforts by minority Republicans in both chambers to force spending curbs on the runaway costs of various programs, including Medicaid.

The budget now being sent to Governor Janet Mills (D) for approval marks a near doubling of the 2016-17 $6.3 biennial budget of less than a decade ago. One contentious issue over the past two attempts to pass a supplemental spending bill in the last several weeks has been the $118 million shortfall in Medicaid spending which Democrats say is covered in this budget, but Republican leaders say remains unresolved for next year.

“The problem is, they don’t have any willingness to address the spending spree,” said Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) of his counterparts across the aisle. “The real losers tonight are the people of the state of Maine who in the short term might see some benefit from the spending, but it’s unsustainable. We’ve crossed that threshold.”

Because previous efforts to attach an emergency preamble to the bill that would have allowed it to take immediate effect failed, it will now take 90 days to release funds under the legislature’s rules. In order to access the new spending before the next fiscal year begins on July 1, Democrat leadership adjourned the session Sine Die with the bill’s passage, effectively ending the 132nd Legislature’s first session.

“A Democrat only, unbalanced budget passed today and then they adjourned the legislature so that this fraud of a budget can go into effect,” House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) said as he exited the state Capitol, adding: “They did the most unbelievable power power trip I’ve ever seen by basically expelling one of our members while she sat in her seat, not allowing her to vote which disenfranchised not only the people of Auburn but also the people of the whole state of Maine.”

Rep. Faulkingham called the process “a total disregard for nearly half the people of Maine” and went on to say “your government is dysfunctional, it’s failing you. They had no fiscal responsibility and no willingness to look at waste, fraud and abuse.”

In particular, Faulkingham called out how Maine’s government has been managing the MaineCare system, which he asserted is failing program integrity audits.

“It is now clear Democrats will not prioritize, reduce of maintain spending at current levels,” Rep. Matthew McIntyre (R-Lowell) said on Thursday. “In the midst of a budget shortfall, they plan on raising spending by more than $1 billion first, and then raising taxes later this spring.”

Democrats adjourned the legislature nearly three months early in order to avoid any real limits on spending, Rep. McIntyre said.

While the budget passed without Republican input was slightly slimmed from the $11.6 billion Gov. Mills requested earlier this year, minority legislators call the changes a shell game of shifting costs from today to a future showdown.