AUGUSTA – Outside, it was a brutally cold December morning. But in the Senate president’s office, a pile of logs was burning in the corner fireplace and the brilliant sunshine was streaming in the windows. Michael H. Michaud of Millinocket looked comfortable behind the president’s desk.

His Senate was tied with 17 Democrats, 17 Republicans and one independent, so an agreement was forged to give Michaud the corner office for the first year, then relinquish it to Republican Rick Bennett for the second year of the session. If that bothered Michaud, he hid it well.

The low-key, low-profile 44-year-old Millinocket paper worker never expected to get this high, ever.

It was 20 years ago that Michaud looked at the pollution in the Medway section of the Penobscot River. “The sludge was so thick that you could walk across the river. Rather than sit back and complain, I thought I would run for the House to do something about it,” he said.

Democrat Michaud won his first race in 1980 in a Republican district and 21 years later has become one of the most experienced politicians in the Legislature, with seven terms in the House and three in the Senate. The single man has served four years as chairman of the Legislative Appropriations Committee, which he considers the very heart of the political process. That committee has final say on every dollar spent by the Legislature.

Under Chairman Michaud, the committee cut budget time in half and eliminated regular midnight sessions that burned out members and staff.

When term limits erased former Senate President Mark Lawrence, Michaud decided to seek the post.

With experience in financial matters, “Clearly, I thought I had something to offer the caucus and the Senate as a whole. Due to term limits, there is no one in Senate or House Democratic leadership who has ever served on appropriations,” he said. Half of the committee membership will be new to the process and will require quick education, Michaud said.

Taking the reins of the Senate as lawmakers return to Augusta for the session on Jan. 4 will require a soft touch. Michaud appears to be the right candidate for the job.

“I don’t view myself as a highly partisan individual. I like to get the work done and move on. I will work with the other side of the aisle, not inflame them. I wish the Democrats were in majority and I had the presidency for two years. But if that was true, I wouldn’t do things much differently. Every legislator was sent here by their constituents to represent their district and they all should have a voice,” he said.

That attitude is a far cry from the prevailing bitter, partisan attitude found by Michaud when he arrived in 1980.

Michaud will be prohibited by term limits from seeking another Senate term. Like many veteran legislators, he opposes the concept.

“I don’t believe in term limits. I fear that what you are going to see is the bureaucracy controlling the process. At one time, my concern was that the lobbyists might control things after term limits. That is not the case,” he said.

Much of the session will be spent dealing with an estimated $200 million shortfall between anticipated revenues and expenditures over the budget biennium, the new president said. The prescription could include cutting programs, raising taxes, or both. The challenge will be to make the needed cuts while finding additional funds to increase aid to education and expand support of health care, especially prescription drugs.

Michaud predicted that the Senate would work peacefully, despite the 17-17 split.

“I would like to have the session go off smoothly,” he said. “I have confidence it will go smoothly. Unlike Washington, we will not work to get the headlines on every single issue and show that the other person is bad. With some compromise and common sense, we can get along and get things done. We may not get everything we want, but we still can accomplish a lot.”