Two Democratic representatives who say they’re tired of Gov. Paul LePage’s administration concealing from the public how he wants to pay for a $38 million tax conformity bill revealed Thursday to the Bangor Daily News what they say he has proposed.

The Republican governor’s administration declined to answer questions from the BDN on Thursday about the proposal — including why it hasn’t been publicly released — though it said details had been shared with legislative leaders of both parties.

“Democrat leadership has been briefed by the administration staff as recently as last week,” said LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett. “Democrats have a choice: they may continue to make a mockery of themselves by denying they have details or they may do the right thing, which will demonstrate they have in mind the best interests of Maine taxpayers and businesses.”

Democratic and Republican leaders wouldn’t share LePage’s proposal with the BDN, either. Senate Minority Leader Justin Alfond, D-Portland, said it’s the administration’s responsibility to inform the public how it proposes to spend public tax dollars.

“It’s outrageous that this administration is withholding this information from the public,” he said. “This is not a drop in the bucket, either. It’s $38 million of taxpayer money that’s being hidden.”

But Alfond also declined to make public any details.

Rep. Adam Goode of Bangor, who co-chairs the Taxation Committee, and Rep. Gay Grant of Gardiner, an Appropriations Committee member, said neither leaders of their caucus nor the LePage administration authorized them to talk publicly about the package, which would offset the cost of providing tax breaks to Mainers — mostly small businesses and corporations — which align with tax code changes made late last year by Congress.

On Wednesday, Democrats and one Republican on the Taxation Committee voted to table LePage’s bill, triggering a battle of words between the governor and lawmakers.

“I did not come to this session or to the work session the other day with the intention of holding up conformity,” Goode said. “I want to pass conformity and I think it’s probably in everybody’s best interests to get it passed and passed soon. If the department and the administration would share the sources of funding that they have identified on mic and answer basic questions, it would be done.”

Goode said his information is third-hand from a legislative leader who heard the information from Finance Commissioner Richard Rosen.

Here are a few of the larger chunks of money as explained by Goode:

• $9.5 million from a tax relief fund created in the Republican-controlled 125th Legislature, which is designed to reduce the income tax.
• $6.1 million from the pool of debt service money in the state treasury.
• $13.4 million from personal services, which is money the state uses to hire private contractors.
• $1.4 million in unallocated education money from the casino fund.
• $3 million from a fund reserved to help municipalities consolidate services; and
• $4.2 million from unallocated surplus.

How and whether these expenditures would be enacted would be the responsibility of the Appropriations Committee.

“I’m serving on Appropriations and I don’t want to be making public policy based on rumors coming from the second floor or third floor or (the Department of Administration and Finance) or wherever,” Grant said.

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