Senate advances supplemental budget with MaineCare and spruce budworm funding after defeat of COLA amendment

The Maine Senate on Tuesday advanced LD 209, a supplemental budget intended to cover urgent needs for the remainder of the fiscal year, voting 20-14 to accept the Appropriations Committee report and to adopt Committee Amendment A and give the bill a second reading by title only.

The vote moves a streamlined emergency package forward that backstops MaineCare provider payments and directs emergency funds to spruce budworm remediation. ‘‘This responsible budget simply pays our bills for the remainder of the fiscal year and includes language that reflects our commitment to finding common ground with our Republican colleagues on issues that are important to all of us,’’ said Senator Rotundo (Androscoggin), chair of the Appropriations Committee.

Why it matters: Appropriators said the supplemental contains roughly $118 million in state general funds that will leverage an estimated $296 million in federal matching funds — about $414 million in total — to keep MaineCare payments flowing. The Department of Health and Human Services warned that, absent prompt legislative action, some provider payments would be temporarily withheld starting in March. The budget also includes $2 million in state…