AUGUSTA

Maine Gov. Paul LePage issued an executive order Monday to pay for several unfunded bills after lawmakers rejected his call for a special legislative session.

The Republican governor contended there’s no funding for a $75,000 needle exchange program and an up-to- $100,000 ambulance study. He also disagreed with funding sources for raises at state mental health institutions and $2.4 million in county jail funding.

“Maine law demands that the budget be balanced. Since Democratic leadership refuses to fund these bills, I have taken action by issuing an executive order to ensure government is being funded in a fiscally responsible manner,” he said in a statement.

LePage announced that he plans to draw from the Low-Cost Drugs for Maine’s Elderly Program and Fund for a Healthy Maine, and to tap savings generated from mental health institutions’ cost-saving measures, including a hiring freeze.

Democrats objected to the governor’s characterization and accused him of stripping funding from programs he’d tried unsuccessfully to kill.

“This entire process of threatening to call an unnecessary special session at a cost of thousands of dollars to Mainers and then issuing an executive order stripping funding from programs he doesn’t like is another example of the governor creating electionyear turmoil to accomplish what he couldn’t in the Legislature,” said House Speaker Mark Eves.

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