Gov. Janet Mills unveiled a tobacco tax hike Friday in her two-year budget plan that serves as the final one of her tenure, and she opens with work to do to win over fellow Democrats who may not all rally behind that major change.

Mills and her office said the $1 per pack increase to Maine’s $2 cigarette tax, alongside a commensurate increase to the excise tax on other tobacco products, will generate about $80 million over two years. Those changes plus cuts to food assistance, health and child care programs, will help close a projected $450 million spending gap.

The governor noted Maine last raised its cigarette excise tax from $1 to $2 in 2005, while every other New England state raised theirs since 2013. She highlighted public health angles, such as how more than a third of annual cancer deaths in Maine are attributable to smoking. Maine’s smoking rate of 15 percent is above the national average of 12.9 percent.

Getting enough support from her party’s lawmakers who saw their majorities narrow in the November elections could prove difficult, particularly given several rural Democrats have banded with Republicans to block past attempts at flavored tobacco bans.

Democrats have only a narrow 75-73 advantage in the House and a 20-15 edge in the Senate. Some of their members from rural districts may oppose it for reasons of personal freedom, while progressives have often disliked these tax hikes because they hit poor residents the hardest.

“I’m not really a fan of disproportionate taxes,” freshman Rep. Cassie Julia, D-Waterville, said Friday. “But I’m also a money person and a numbers person.”

Julia noted the governor focused on public health benefits in pitching the cigarette tax hike, such as how Medicaid-related smoking expenditures cost Maine taxpayers $281 million annually. Julia said savings in smoking-related health care costs “can go far in other places.”

Another freshman Democrat, Rep. Marshall Archer of Saco, said earlier Friday he wanted to understand “the why” behind the cigarette tax increase before deciding whether to support it, mentioning concern for “marginalized populations.”

“If it’s a tool to help reduce the budget [gap], I’m not a big fan of that,” Archer said.

Democratic leaders put out neutral statements Friday afternoon that said they looked forward to digging into the budget details and hearing the public on the plan. They did not mention the proposed cigarette and tobacco-related tax hikes, but House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, said he heard not all Democrats are fans of the plan.

Republicans signaled opposition to any tax increases, noting the governor is also proposing tax increases on marijuana and streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify. Sen. Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, said he is a former smoker but opposes a higher “sin tax.”

“I think it should be spread out amongst all Mainers, not just those who choose to smoke,” Timberlake said.

Mills emphasized Friday her budget rejects “broad-based tax changes,” such as income and sales tax hikes, while also not drawing from a “rainy day fund” that was essentially maxed out last year at roughly $968 million.

New Hampshire taxes a pack of 20 cigarettes at $1.78, which could lead to Mainers flocking across the border if the higher tax takes effect, said Curtis Picard, CEO of the Retail Association of Maine. That could lead to less revenue than projected for Maine.

“Consumers are pretty aware of what things cost these days,” Picard said.

The leader of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a national nonprofit that supports a flavored tobacco ban in Maine, lauded Mills’ plan Friday by saying it will save lives and money. Still, plenty of lobbying and spending from tobacco interests have swayed past Maine proposals.

“The evidence is clear that increasing the price of cigarettes and other tobacco products is one of the most effective ways to reduce tobacco use, especially among kids,” Yolonda C. Richardson, the campaign’s CEO, said.

Interest groups on opposite sides of the political spectrum were also not rallying behind the tax changes. The conservative Maine Policy Institute called it another example of Mills breaking her 2022 campaign promise to not raise taxes.

The liberal Maine Center for Economic Policy criticized the cuts or lack of additional investments in various health care and child care programs that Mills said would help close the funding gap. James Myall, the center’s economic policy analyst, said they “have some reservations about it.”

Asked if she thinks the tax increases have enough support to pass, Mills said Friday she was “not going to handicap it at this moment.”

“Nobody’s taken a vote on anything,” she added.

Health experts and advocates are prioritizing a wide range of issues in the upcoming legislative session, spanning from the tobacco tax and artificial intelligence protections to measures that address children’s behavioral health, medical cannabis and workforce shortages.

Matt Wellington, associate director of the Maine Public Health Association, said his organization will push to increase the tobacco tax, which he said has not been increased in 20 years, in order to fund efforts to reduce rates of cancer.

Maine has a higher cancer incidence rate than the national average, yet one of the lowest tobacco taxes in the region.

“One in three Mainers will face a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime,” Wellington said. “We’re putting a big emphasis on educating lawmakers about all of the tools at our disposal to prevent cancer and to reduce the incidence of cancer in our state.”

MPHA also supports efforts to update landlord-tenant regulations to create safer housing that can handle extreme weather events and high heat days by requiring air conditioning and making sure water damage is covered to prevent mold.

Wellington also emphasized expanding the breadth of issues local boards of health are allowed to weigh in on beyond the current scope of nuisance issues such as rodents, and establishing a testing, tracking and tracing requirement for the medical cannabis program.

Dr. Henk Goorhuis, co-chair of the Maine Medical Association legislative committee, said he is concerned about the use of artificial intelligence in denial of prior authorizations by health insurance companies and said there are some steps the state could take.

Both Goorhuis and Dr. Scott Hanson, MMA president, emphasized stronger gun safety protections.

“The Maine Medical Association, and the Maine Gun Safety Coalition and the American Academy of Pediatricians … we’re all not convinced that Maine’s system is as good as it can be,” Hanson said.

Goorhuis added that while he thinks Maine has made progress on reproductive autonomy, it will be important to watch what could happen at the federal level and whether there will be repercussions here in Maine.

Jess Maurer, executive director of the Maine Council on Aging, and Arthur Phillips, the economic policy analyst with the Maine Center for Economic Policy, both said they are working on an omnibus bill to grow the essential care and support workforce and close gaps in care.

Maurer said this bill will include a pay raise for Mainers caring for older adults and people with intellectual and physical disabilities; an effort to study gaps in care; the use of technology to monitor how people are getting care; and the creation of a universal worker credential.

Phillips said he hopes lawmakers will pursue reimbursement for wages at 140 percent of minimum wage. A report he published this summer estimated that the state needs an additional 2,300 full-time care workers, and called for the Medicaid reimbursement rate for direct care to be increased.

Maurer said Area Agencies on Aging are “overburdened” with demand for services and at least three have waitlists for Meals on Wheels. She is pushing for a bill that would increase funding for these agencies and the services they provide.

John Brautigam, with Legal Services for Maine Elders, said his organization is focused on making sure the Medicare Savings Program expansion is implemented as intended.

He’s following consumer protection initiatives, including those relating to medical debt collection, and supports the proposed regulations for assisted housing programs, which will go to lawmakers this session.

Brautigam said he’s also advocating for legislation that will protect older Mainers’ housing, adequate funding for civil legal service providers and possible steps to restructure the probate court system to bring it in line with the state’s other courts.

Jeffrey Austin, vice president of government affairs for the Maine Hospital Association, said he’s focused on protecting the federal 340B program, which permits eligible providers, such as nonprofit hospitals and federally qualified health centers, to purchase certain drugs at a discount.

Austin said this program is crucial for serving certain populations, including the uninsured, but the pharmaceutical industry has been trying to “erode” the program. Maine hospitals lost roughly $75 million last year due to challenges to the program, he said.

Katie Fullam Harris,  chief government affairs officer for MaineHealth, also highlighted protecting 340B. She said that although it’s a federal program, there are some steps Maine could take to protect it at a local level, as other states have done.

Both Austin and Harris said there is more work to be done on providing behavioral health services for children so they aren’t stuck in hospital emergency rooms or psychiatric units. Harris said there will potentially be multiple bills that aim to increase in-home support systems and create more residential capacity. 

Austin said there’s a second aspect of Mainers getting stuck in hospitals: older adults with nowhere to be discharged. Improving the long-term care eligibility process will make this more effective. For example, there’s currently a mileage limit on how far away someone can be placed in long-term care, but that’s no longer realistic due to nursing home closures, he said.

This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor, a nonprofit civic news organization. To get regular coverage from the Monitor, sign up for a free Monitor newsletter here.

River otters are members of the weasel family, and are equally comfortable on land or in the water.

They probably are the most fun mammal Maine has, just because they like to play. But their play antics have a more serious purpose too. They teach their young survival skills, and hone their own, that way.

You will see them slide down riverbanks and muddy or snowy hills, wrestle with each other, bellyflop, somersault or juggle rocks while lying on their backs, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

The otters in this video courtesy of Colin Chase have found a fun log to include in their games.

Otters are social creatures but usually live alone in pairs. Parents raise two or three kits that are born in spring in a den near a river or stream, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website says.

They primarily eat fish, but also shellfish, crayfish and sometimes turtles, snakes, muskrats and small beavers, according to the MDIF&W.

Otters can swim up to a quarter mile under water, and their noses and ears close while they are submerged. They also have a membrane that closes over their eyes so they can see better under water, the Smithsonian said.

They are mostly nocturnal so it’s a treat to see them during the day, playing or hunting for food.