Baldacci may call summer session on fuel funding

AUGUSTA – There’s still no word about a special session of the Legislature to take up fuel assistance funding.

Gov. John Baldacci, who has indicated there is a possibility of bringing lame-duck lawmakers back to the State House before their terms expire and successors are seated in December, reiterated Tuesday that administration officials are reviewing what options are available and whether action is needed before a new Legislature convenes.

“It has to be something I can’t do without them,” the governor said.

Republican legislative leaders favor the special session idea while Democrats have been noncommittal.

Baldacci, who said he would like to see a lowering of Maine’s income tax approved by the incoming Legislature, said he hopes to build on achievements during his tenure to date in other areas, such as health care, the creation of a community college system and government reorganizations.

“It’ll be one of the things we’re going to finish up on this session,” the governor said.

Details have yet to develop.

Baldacci acknowledged that his general comments on tax reductions prompted immediate questions of “where’s the money going to come from?”

He also acknowledged that lawmakers and the administration have tried various initiatives previously.

“Yeah, but the fact is we’re going to continue the effort,” he said.

When lawmakers wound up their scheduled 2008 work in April, Baldacci counted as the year’s major accomplishments the supplemental budget muscled through in the end by the Democratic majorities; a corrections system overhaul that mostly discarded his takeover approach to include more county involvement; new investments in roads and bridges; a Democrat-favored increase in the minimum wage; and additional flexibility in school system mergers.

Now, Baldacci is preparing for his final two years by fine-tuning some personnel assignments.

On Tuesday, Baldacci said he was withdrawing the nomination of Administrative and Financial Services Commissioner Rebecca Wyke for the top post at the Finance Authority of Maine, saying Wyke is joining the University of Maine System as vice chancellor of finance and administration.