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Janet Mills’ 1st veto of 2023 prompts fight with labor over offshore wind [1]
['Michael Shepherd', 'More Michael Shepherd']
Date: 2023-06-26
AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills’ first veto of the year came down Monday on a crucial offshore wind measure containing labor protections that she and business interests opposed.
The bill began as an initiative from the Democratic governor to change environmental standards in a way that will allow for the development of offshore wind ports, but it morphed as progressives in Maine Senate tacked on language in another bill to require project labor agreements, a type of collective bargaining deal between unions and companies.
Mills handed down a veto threat last week, prompting letters that attempted to pull the governor in different directions on the measure. It could push the sides toward a compromise or delay. If the Legislature upholds the veto and does nothing else on the subject, it could jeopardize the state’s position in the nascent energy sector. One Democrat criticized her move.
“The governor’s veto threatens this new industry, putting good jobs for Maine people and the environmental benefits that go along with offshore wind at risk,” Sen. Chip Curry, D-Belfast, who sponsored the measure, said in a statement.
Monday was the end of the governor’s 10-day deadline to veto the bill or allow it to pass into law. Last week, she urged lawmakers to pull it from her desk to fix the language. When they declined, she said she was left with no choice but to veto it.
Both the Maine Department of Transportation and the construction industry vehemently opposed this language in the other bill, which the Mills administration testified as being against the department’s normal standards. The language was chiefly being pushed by the Maine State Building and Construction Trades Council, a union with 6,000 members here.
Last week, the governor wrote to key lawmakers saying she would veto the bill if lawmakers did not recall it from her desk and remove the language she sees as problematic. She noted a relatively small percentage of unionized contractors in Maine, saying the language would create “a chilling effect” for them and potentially lead to out-of-state workers dominating the sector.
“It is imperative that investment in offshore wind facilities and projects foster opportunities for Maine’s workforce and construction companies to compete on a level playing field for this work,” she said in her veto letter.
Legislative Democrats including Curry challenged her in a Friday letter, noting that any contractor can enter such an agreement and floating an amendment that would ensure Maine workers have priority in the eventual agreements that govern port construction.
On the same day, the Maine State Chamber of Commerce wrote to the governor urging her to veto this bill and a similar one on project construction, noting its original support for the ports bill but saying the changes risk raising both taxpayer and ratepayer costs underlying the offshore wind industry.
Mills and progressives could come to a deal on the subject as part of a different bill on offshore wind procurement that the full Legislature has not yet acted upon.
The stakes are high for the governor and the industry. Mills has been a champion of setting Maine up to be a major player in offshore wind, something that led to criticism from fishermen during the 2022 campaign cycle. She has recently advocated for guardrails, including by asking the federal government to leave a key Gulf of Maine fishing ground off the table for wind.
It was Mills’ first veto since May 2022. While she is far shy of the record-smashing 642 vetoes from her predecessor, Republican Paul LePage, her total of 38 so far is notable because it has come under a Democratic-led Legislature. LePage’s Democratic predecessor, John Baldacci, only issued eight vetoes, and independent Angus King before him issued 50.
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[1] Url:
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/06/26/politics/janet-mills-1st-veto-fight-with-labor-offshore-wind-n6hjn1me0n/
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