Maine Governor Paul LePage (R) crossed into legally questionable territory when he refused to forward a package of 19 bills that he forgot to veto within a 10-day window, but now he's shooting for the moon as he withholds an additional 51 bills.
AUGUSTA, Maine — Despite arguments that his recent holding of 19 bills inadvertently allowed those those bills to become law, Gov. Paul LePage’s office said he intends to do the same thing with an additional 51 bills that are currently on his desk.
“The next time the Legislature is in session for three days, he’ll deliver the bills he wants to veto,” LePage Communications Director Peter Steele said Thursday afternoon.
Both Republicans and Democrats are raising legal questions with the attorney general because LePage's jackassery is truly bipartisan. Many of the bills he's withholding were sponsored or supported by Republican lawmakers.
Governor LePage is reportedly prepared to use taxpayer money to defend his illegal actions in court.
Asked what he will do if the Legislature insists that the bills are already law, LePage said he will “try to force them.”
“We’ll go to the courts and we’ll ask them,” LePage said. “It’s in the Constitution … It’s very clear – very, very clear. Even I can understand it and I’m French.”
Among the additional 51 bills Governor LePage is now withholding is a tax break for Vietnam veterans.