Gov. Janet Mills will deliver a State of the Budget address at 7 p.m. on Feb. 14.

Mills will give the speech to House and Senate lawmakers in the House Chamber. Mills unveiled a $10.3 billion two-year budget proposal Jan. 11. It includes two years of free community college and would expand pre-K programs, and invest in housing, infrastructure, transportation and services for people with disabilities, among other initiatives. The budget proposal would not raise taxes but would rely on anticipated revenue surpluses to pay for a nearly 10 percent increase in overall spending.

“From expanding health care, to strengthening our economy, to making education more affordable and accessible, we have made real and meaningful progress for Maine people, but there is more to do,” Mills said in a written statement Tuesday. “I strongly believe that if we want to build a stronger, more prosperous state where opportunity is available to all, then we must invest in our greatest asset: the people of Maine.”

Mills is working with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate but has said she wants to pass a budget with bipartisan support. Republicans are expected to push for cuts to the income tax, an idea that has at least some Democratic support.

The annual speech is called a State of the Budget Address in certain years when a governor has just given an inaugural address and the speech is focused more narrowly on the budget. In other years, the speech is called the State of the State Address.


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