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Mills asks Legislature to approve $300 affordability checks drawn from rainy day fund
Summary
Gov. Janet Mills asked the Maine Legislature to approve one-time $300 'affordability relief' checks for roughly 725,000 residents, funded from the state's legally capped rainy day fund; she proposed income caps and urged prompt approval but no formal vote occurred during the address.
Gov. Janet Mills proposed a one-time $300 affordability relief payment for Mainers, to be drawn from the state's record-high rainy day fund and aimed at offsetting rising household costs.
Mills, delivering her eighth and final State of the State, said the checks would reach an estimated 725,000 residents and described income caps in her plan: about $75,000 for single filers and higher thresholds for households and joint filers. "I propose that we help Maine people breathe a little easier... by sending them an affordability relief check for $300 each drawn from our record high rainy day fund," Mills said.
The governor asked the Legislature to "promptly approve this measure," noting the rainy day fund stands at its legal maximum — "more than a billion dollars" in her account of the fund's balance. She framed the proposal as a direct, rapid way to return money to residents rather than creating new programs and cited past bipartisan relief payments during the pandemic and inflationary periods.
Nut graf: The proposal is a policy request, not a law. Mills signaled she will include the plan in her supplemental budget and urged prompt legislative action; the address did not include a recorded vote or formal legislative approval.
Details and context: Mills said prior relief efforts totaled nearly $1.3 billion in direct payments and argued the $300 checks would follow that model. She and her administration proposed caps and an estimated eligibility pool; the governor tied the funding source to the rainy day fund's legal cap and urged legislators to act quickly.
What's next: The measure requires legislative approval and appropriation language in the supplemental budget. No vote or formal motion on the floor was recorded in the address transcript. Republican leaders responded later in the evening by faulting broad state spending priorities and urging different tax relief approaches.
Ending: The governor framed the checks as a direct, immediate step to help Mainers with higher costs while acknowledging the Legislature must act to appropriate the funds.
