No Budget Agreement – State Government Is Shut Down

Lawmakers failed to agree on a budget overnight and so, effective at 12:01 Saturday morning, the state government has shut down.

The Executive order will remain in effect until the state of emergency is terminated by Executive Proclamation or until 5 p.m. on July 3, 2017, whichever is earlier. Governor Paul LePage signed the executive order that declares a 'civil emergency' and will ensure that certain benefits are paid to Mainers. The state agencies, however, will remain in shut down mode until a budget agreement can be reached.

The Governor said in a media release, "The Maine people are taxed enough. I will not tax them anymore and, in my budget, overall taxes were decreased. Maine has plenty of revenue to fund state government without raising taxes."

What does this mean? It means that all non-essential state employees will be on leave until the government reopens. They should have been notified by their employers on Friday as to their job status in the event of a shutdown.

SNAP and TANF recipients will still get their benefits this month. Child support payments will be processed and there will be no disruption of claims in the Maine Medicaid program.

The Unemployment Claims Center will be closed and customer service representatives will not be available. Limited unemployment services will be available on an emergency basis. Get more information on the Maine Department of Labor's website. In addition, some Veteran's services will be open to process claims.

Maine's State Parks will remain open, and state law enforcement agencies will continue to patrol, including State Police, Maine Warden Service, and Maine Marine Resource officers.