Does Maine even have a functional executive branch anymore?

Troy R. Bennett | BDN

Troy R. Bennett | BDN

In our podcast this week at Beacon, Ben Chin and I discussed the ongoing saga of the Governor Paul LePage’s failure to veto a series of bills he opposes, what that means for more than 1,000 families of asylum seekers, and what it means for Maine politics more broadly.

One interesting point Ben raised is that, for all the humor we might find in LePage accidentally allowing policies he opposes to pass into law, his erratic behavior seems to have reached a new and somewhat scary level.

“If there was to be a natural disaster or something like that, it’s impossible for me to imagine our governor in the current state that he’s in, for whatever reason, actually being able to effectively manage that,” said Ben. “It just seems like we have a chief executive right now that is not up for the job and is putting everybody’s well-being at risk in Maine as a result of it.”

“Even if you’re his supporters and you really want him to put a thousand asylum-seekers in the street, you can’t even trust him to do that at this point,” he added.

LePage’s continued insistence that he’ll refuse to enforce the laws he has just allowed to be passed, perhaps for months, would seem to reinforce Ben’s concern.

Mike Tipping

About Mike Tipping

Mike is Maine's longest-writing political blogger and explores state politics and policy with a focus on analysis and explanation. He works at the Maine People's Alliance and Maine People's Resource Center.