The contentious relationship between Executive and Legislative branches has gotten testier, fueled by continuing doubts about the validity of the administration’s budget numbers.

Finance Commissioner Sawin Millett revealed that the state collected $14.3 million extra in January — an event he attributed to human, rather than computer error, a refreshing change from the administration’s usual practice.

But it came on top of the revelation that Maine is paying, probably illegally, for up to 24,300 ineligible Medicaid beneficiaries, even as the administration insists lawmakers cut the number of those receiving benefits legally. A May adjournment, two weeks late, now seems likely.

LePage, just back from Jamaica, went on radio to blame the opposition, saying the budget “keeps hitting a wall with the Democrats.” He conveniently ignored that Republicans control both House and Senate, and Democrats have been accommodating on budgets – perhaps too accommodating, considering some $400 million in unfunded tax cuts fall due in the next biennium.

LePage then denounced Senate Assistant Minority Leader Justin Alfond, calling him “a little spoiled brat from Portland.” Alfond, grandson of philanthropist Harold Alfond, may also be Senate president next year if LePage keeps land-mining his GOP allies.

The Alfond remark was too much for GOP Assistant Majority Leader Debra Plowman, who called it “a cheap shot,” adding, “When you start bringing [in] people’s families, I really don’t like it.”

But the real discord between GOP legislators and the governor was played out in roll calls. LePage fired off another pair of vetoes, his 16th  and 17th;  all previous ones had been sustained, with Republicans falling into line.

Not on the 17th. A senior Republican, Rep. Peter Edgecomb, had sponsored a bill to regain federal funding for special education the state’s been losing. The measure, LD 1003, passed both houses unanimously. Astoundingly, LePage vetoed it. The House overrode by 124-16, and the Senate, 35-0.

In his veto message, LePage voiced “strong objections to the Legislature directing efforts of the Executive branch.” It happens all the time. That’s why we call them co-equal branches.

But it was the 16th veto, on a bill to protect homeowners facing foreclosure, LD 145, that was the interesting case. Freshman Rep. Bobbi Beavers (D-South Berwick) had worked with the Judiciary Committee for 16 months on the bill, which finally recommended it, 11-2.

Beavers originally proposed that, before foreclosures could start, lenders must prove they owned the property. This is a huge problem, with giant national companies like GMAC and Bank of America “robo-signing” documents, violating state laws requiring each case to be attested individually.

After talking with Thomas Cox, the volunteer attorney who uncovered the scandal, Beavers made the bill simpler. Lenders must keep the original paperwork.

Without such paper trails, Beavers said in an interview, it’s often impossible to tell which lender owns what. She cites a case of a Sanford woman, a disabled veteran, and a Republican, who was foreclosed on by three different banks. “If she paid the wrong one, she could still be liable to another one,” Beavers said.

It’s this nightmare the bill aimed to prevent. Credit unions supported it after Beavers agreed to an amendment limiting borrower requests for proof to 90 days.

The big banks resisted. They sell and re-sell mortgages with abandon, and they don’t want to keep track of paperwork. Nevertheless, the bill passed the House by 94-50 and the Senate by 32-2.

Then it got to LePage. Beavers said the governor’s top aide, Dan Billings, refused a meeting with her and Cox, saying LePage had heard both sides.

His veto message indicated otherwise. LePage refers to “a new burden on lenders” that “simply creates more paperwork.” But the bill would not create more paperwork – it required banks to keep paperwork they already have.

Given the standards borrowers must now meet, this seems little enough. After all, borrowers have no control over who services their mortgages, who owns them, or they must pay extra for the privilege.

Given the speculative lending that helped cause the crash of ’08, few would dispute the need for balance, but Maine’s governor does.

When his veto came to the House, it mustered 69 votes, not even a majority, with 19 of the 26 Republicans who voted “aye” switching sides. Some did backflips. Ralph Sarty voted for the bill in committee and on the floor. Dale Crafts was a co-sponsor.

One doubts sustaining this veto will help Republicans seeking re-election. They’ll need to explain to constituents why it is they voted for the bill before they voted against it.