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Senate rejects study to shift state fiscal year to Oct. 1 after debate on budget timing
Summary
Sen. Bennett urged a study to move Maine’s fiscal-year start to Oct. 1 to align with federal cycles and allow more legislative deliberation; the chamber voted 21-11 to sustain the committee’s 'ought not to pass' recommendation, halting the study.
Senator Bennett presented a resolve to study moving the start of Maine’s fiscal year from July 1 to Oct. 1, arguing the change would align state and federal fiscal calendars and provide three additional months for budget deliberations, public hearings and legislative review.
Bennett said aligning Maine’s fiscal year with the federal government would simplify coordination with federal grant cycles and give lawmakers more time for scrutiny, especially during tight budget times. He argued that the current timeline compresses scrutiny of baseline budgets and shortchanges public participation.
Opponents of the study were not quoted extensively on the floor, but the chamber ordered a roll-call vote on the committee report. The secretary announced that 21 senators voted in the affirmative and 11 in the negative, and the chair declared that the majority 'ought not to pass' report prevailed, meaning the study will not proceed as proposed.
The vote closes the immediate prospect of a legislative study to change the fiscal-year start date; interested parties and municipalities that would have been affected will not see the study move forward at this time.
