Republicans are increasing the pressure on Democratic leaders to reverse last week’s decision to block Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed facilty to house forensic mental health patients in Augusta.

The LePage administration has billed the new facility as a way to regain the federal certification that Riverview Psychiatric Center lost in 2013, putting millions of dollars in funding at risk.

Last year, the Republican governor proposed moving violent patients to a 32-bed unit at the Maine State Prison, but it was rejected in the Legislature amid concerns that it would violate the settlement of a 1989 lawsuit by patients against the state.

After that, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services turned its focus to building a new facility next to Riverview Psychiatric Center on Augusta’s east side using internal funds without legislative approval at a cost of between $3 million and $5 million.

But lawmakers discovered a little-known provision in state law that gives the Legislative Council, a 10-member panel of legislative leaders, authority to approve new construction on state complexes in Augusta. Democrats on the evenly divided panel rejected it last week, saying they didn’t have enough information.

As a result, LePage said he’d simply build the facility off state grounds, saying Freeport — the home of House Speaker Sara Gideon, a Democrat — was being considered. However, Freeport Town Manager Peter Joseph said he never heard from the administration and LePage told WGAN he couldn’t move it there on Thursday.

On Thursday, Republicans will up the ante, with House Minority Leader Ken Fredette, R-Newport, holding a news conference with DHHS officials on the facility. That’s ahead of a 1:30 p.m. meeting of the Legislative Council.

The issue isn’t on the agenda, but a spokeswoman for Gideon said it could come up during the meeting, so we may learn more about a way forward.

Senate President Mike Thibodeau, R-Winterport, was optimistic about that in his appearance on WGAN on Thursday, saying “if we take time to communicate just a litte bit, we’ll probably find a solution to the problem.”