Paul LePage Needs To Answer: Would He Once Again Reject Federal Funds?

National Republicans have spent the past week bickering over whether or not they should accept federal funding for infrastructure, public health, and other vital programs in their states. Given his past record and his party's nationwide feud, Mainers deserve to know whether Paul LePage will reject federal funds like those being used in the widely praised Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan once again? Or, will he instead join hypocritical Republican governors like Florida’s Ron DeSantis, Georgia’s Brian Kemp, and Iowa’s Kim Reynolds and take credit for investments of funds he and his party vigorously opposed?

During his time in office, LePage forfeited a whopping $1.9 billion in federal funding, including money that would have expanded health care, improved infrastructure, and kept thousands of Maine families out of poverty. Since beginning his 2022 campaign for governor, he has continued to voice hostility to federal funds, decrying Mills for using “funny money” to fund record investments in Maine people.

“While he was governor, Paul LePage repeatedly refused to accept federal funds to shore up vital programs in our state, and Maine people suffered as a result,” said Drew Gattine, Chair of the Maine Democratic Party. “Now that Republicans around the country are following his lead, he must answer: if re-elected, would he double down on the damage he caused to our state by forfeiting federal money and ripping apart the Maine Jobs and Recovery Act just to make a political point?”

The Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan is an investment of nearly $1 billion of American Rescue Plan funding in Maine’s families and businesses. Through the Jobs Plan, Governor Mills is supporting Maine’s workers, small businesses, and heritage industries, while also making record investments in child care, housing, and infrastructure. Governor Mills has also reversed a number of LePage’s other decisions to forfeit federal funds, and as a result has been able to expand MaineCare to 90,000 people and invest in the state’s infrastructure, all without raising taxes.