PORTLAND: Gov. Paul LePage stated that he was completely in the dark about negotiations between lawmakers and the governor’s staff, which ultimately resulted in the $6.7 billion budget deal that the Legislature approved over LePage’s veto in June.
LePage has railed against the negotiations, which he called “secretive, late-night decisions made under the cover of darkness and behind locked doors.
But documents obtained by the Portland Press Herald revealed that several senior members of LePage’s staff were involved in those negotiations, including Deputy Chief of Staff Kathleen Newman and Deputy Finance Commissioner Michael Allen.
On WGAN, LePage said that his staff simply provided analysis from Maine Revenue Services, information to which lawmakers would not have otherwise had access.
