Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, center, facing camera, speaks with, from left, Senate Majority Leader Teresa Pierce, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Jill Duson and Assistant Senate Minority Leader Matthew Harrington during a break in Senate proceedings at the State House in Augusta on Tuesday. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA — The Maine Legislature adjourned Tuesday without taking any action on a plan to balance the state’s budget, raising the stakes for hospitals and other medical providers who serve low-income patients through the state’s Medicaid program.

Lawmakers don’t plan to come back into session until next Tuesday, the day before the state Department of Health and Human Services says it will begin curtailing MaineCare reimbursements to health care providers if the $121 million supplemental budget proposal doesn’t receive two-thirds support so it can take effect immediately.

Democrats and Republicans are in a standoff, challenging each other to offer new ways of bridging the impasse and finding a compromise. And there are few signs that any new proposals are on the table, with all negotiations occurring behind closed doors.

Republicans believe they have public opinion on their side and want to use their leverage to make cuts to the state’s General Assistance program and add work requirements for recipients of MaineCare health coverage.

But Democrats say those are nonstarters in the supplemental budget, which they say is an emergency measure to balance this year’s budget and makes sure the state can pay for programs approved by the previous Legislature. And, they say, the work requirements proposal have not had any public hearings.

The supplemental budget that came out of the Legislature’s budget committee would delay debate on the more controversial proposals to limit housing assistance under General Assistance and provide cost-of-living increases for direct care workers. Those debates would be taken up when the Legislature compiles the larger two-year budget.

Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, said she met with Republican leaders Tuesday afternoon and that they plan to keep talking throughout the week in hopes of making a breakthrough. She stressed the importance of getting Republican support so the budget can take effect immediately, but she warned them that some Democrats might not support the Republican proposals.

“I reminded them that you can’t be guaranteed that all of the Democrats are going to come along,” Daughtry said.

There also may be different priorities among members of the House and the Senate, complicating negotiations.

Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle, declined to comment on the budget standoff, saying he’s not going to negotiate through the media.

“We’re trying to figure it out,” Stewart said.

Failure to enact the budget as an emergency measure would cause funding to be delayed for 90 days from adjournment. Unless the Legislature adjourns early, that means the funding could be delayed until September.

A spokesperson for Gov. Janet Mills said in a written statement that she has urged both parties to negotiate in good faith so the budget can be passed as a bipartisan emergency measure.

“Inaction by the Legislature is now putting the budgets, and patients of health care providers across Maine, in jeopardy,” spokesperson Ben Goodman said.

“This was unnecessary and preventable,” he continued. “The governor strongly encourages Democrats and Republicans to find a way forward on the supplemental budget, so health care providers caring for Maine people are paid what they are owed without delay. As she has said, there is absolutely no need to obstruct a two-thirds passage of this bill.”

Nearly all of the $121 million supplemental budget is being devoted to closing a deficit in the MaineCare program, the state’s version of Medicaid. The Legislature’s budget committee, including every Republican present at the time, voted unanimously to allocate $118 million to close the gap and spend $2 million to fight the spread of spruce budworm largely in northern Maine.

SEEKING CONCESSIONS

That agreement included several concessions by Democrats, including ending the easy enroll program for MaineCare and increased reporting requirements for the program.

Republicans, however, withdrew their support for the budget after one of its budget committee members, Rep. Ken Fredette, R-Newport, missed the meeting and could not lodge a vote against the budget because of a new legislative rule.

House Republicans say they only have leverage to get priorities included in the supplemental budget because it needs two-thirds support to take effect immediately and provide hospitals with their full reimbursements.

House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, said Republicans are pushing for measures originally proposed by Mills to limit housing assistance through the General Assistance program to three months.

He said Republicans believe that Democrats will cut them out of negotiations over the larger biennial budget, which Democrats have passed with a simple majority vote in recent years.

“Obviously we see the writing on the wall with the biennial, so we’re not prepared to write a blank check on the supplemental and be excluded from the biennial,” Faulkingham said.

WHO’S BEING HELD HOSTAGE?

DHHS said they will need to begin curtailing MaineCare reimbursements beginning March 12 — the day after lawmakers return to Augusta for session.

Hospitals have warned that funding cuts could lead to a loss of much-needed health care services, especially in more rural communities where Republicans hold more seats.

While Daughtry hopes that the impending curtailments will move Republicans in the negotiations, Faulkingham believes public opinion is on his party’s side. He pointed to a recent poll from the University of New Hampshire’s Survey Center showing Mills’ favorability rating is the lowest it’s been since she took office — a figure largely attributed to her budget proposals, which included both programming cuts and tax increases.

The poll was taken before Mills made national headlines for butting heads with President Donald Trump in the White House over his executive order to prohibit transgender athletes from playing in girls sports.

Mills told Trump that she would follow state law, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity. When Trump threatened to cut all federal funding to the state, Mills replied, “See you in court.”

“I don’t think the people see us as the ones that are holding it hostage,” Faulkingham said. “I think they see us as being reasonable with what we’re asking for.”