Last Thursday afternoon at the State House, after several weeks of an expressed sense of urgency over passage of the state budget, majority Democrats in the House could not muster enough votes to pass their own budget.

Despite the buildup and anticipation for what was to be a long night of up and down party line votes, Speaker John Richardson surprisingly adjourned the assembled House as soon as it was convened. It was Speaker Richardson after all who uttered the unfortunately hyperbolic “people will die” comments on Wednesday if this budget was not passed at this desperate time.

So, why the sudden adjournment? To be sure, the adjournment was a delay tactic, and it comes at a time when majority Democrats have been hemming incessantly about the urgent need to pass this budget, and suggests once again why State House Democrats need to come back to the table and work in a bipartisan manner and get this budget right for the people of Maine.

The signals of growing dissatisfaction could not have been more clear as the weeks leading up to last Thursday’s abrupt recess found legislators from both parties, policy advocates and the public at-large expressing concern that the proposed fiscal year 2006-07 budget created more fiscal problems for Maine’s future than it solves in today’s budget crisis. But up until Thursday, the Democrats thought they had found a way to pass a budget without the people’s consent. As some suggest, the votes just aren’t there for even full Democrat consent for this budget, let alone bipartisan consent. Gov. Baldacci must know that Maine people will not accept a forced Democratic budget that for the first time in history borrows $450 million to pay for current state expenses; and it does so without a single vote by the people of Maine – truly unprecedented.

Additionally, this budget is filled with 11th-hour provisions that received no committee review, bipartisan discussion or public hearing. Most alarming, but wholly consistent with recent Democratic strategies, however, are their proposals aiming to force a “sick tax” onto community hospitals, create a 7 percent sales tax for home rentals and invent a $10 tax on canoe rentals. State House Democrats shouldn’t be allowed to borrow money, raise taxes and expand state government in the dark of night to the detriment of future generations of Mainers.

As was recently pointed out in these pages, we are “left with borrowing,” but that’s not the only way to solve our budget-making problems. Republican lawmakers have offered a series of amendments that provide budget alternatives that will reduce state spending, further our important commitments to health care, education and the elderly, and propose meaningful tax relief for Maine taxpayers. GOP legislators have even forwarded a bipartisan resolution that would allow lawmakers the necessary time and framework for which to solve these obvious budget problems.

Driven by overwhelming public concern, the Maine Republican Party has launched MaineVeto.com, a Web site allowing Maine citizens to express their disappointment over the Democratic budget being rushed through the State House. We feel this is a useful tool and a substantive resource that also helps citizens put this budget debate into perspective and allows them to participate in the process at the same time. With MaineVeto.com, the Maine Republican Party will allow the growing number of concerned citizens who are outraged and dismayed with the overspending, borrowing and taxing ways of Democrats in Augusta to speak out and urge Gov. John Baldacci to veto this truly flawed budget.

For their part, Democrats this week will have the luxury of coming off an extended Easter break, and more time to apply the necessary pressure to, and if possible, rein in the more independent-minded lawmakers among them. But more importantly, Democrats in Augusta have a new week and a new opportunity to come back to the table and work on a bipartisan basis to debate and fully air all options, so that Mainers can have a budget they deserve.

Randy Bumps is the chairman of the Maine Republican Party.