Dem governors seek to rollback policies

AUGUSTA, MAINE >> Standing in front of a stove shop powered by 83 rooftop solar panels, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills used three simple words to usher in her state’snew solar energy policy.

“It’s now law,” Mills shouted as she raised her pen after signing legislation that expands the use of renewable energy in Maine.

The bill had been fiercely opposed by Mills’s predecessor, Republican Paul LePage, a staunch conservative known for rancorous comments, penny-pinching budgets and denial of man-made climate change. For Mills, the solar metering bill is part of an effort to rapidly reverse the policies of LePage and the conservative interest groups that backed him for eight years.

“We are doing things differently now in Maine,” Mills said in an interview after the signing early this month. “And we are going to continue doing things differently.”

Mills is one of seven Democrats who flipped GOP-held governorships last year and are moving quickly to shift debate leftward in their states. Their agendas bolster and defend the Affordable Care Act, enjoin their states in the fight over climate change, and revitalize state budgets that often saw stagnant funding under their GOP predecessors. Just as important, the new Democratic governors say, they view their governorships as gentler, less adversarial models for how government should function in the era of President Donald Trump.

“As much as certain kinds of behavior grab headlines, people out there still, I think, are hungry for a better degree, higher level of civility,” said Mills, who was elected Maine’s first female governor in November. “People want a more thoughtful approach to governing and a more thoughtful approach to public policy.”

New Democratic governors are making similar moves across the country: In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been pushing a gasolinetax hike to pay for highway repairs. In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers is promoting a plan to expand Medicaid to 82,000 low- and moderate-income state residents.

In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been pushing to raise the minimum wage while supporting pay increases for child care and health care workers that his predecessor, Republican Bruce Rauner, rejected. And in his first months in office, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has signed legislation to expand background checks for gun purchases.

There’s debate about whether the new governors are shifting policy too far to the left for some voters’ tastes. Evers, for example, has proposed granting in-state tuition rates to some undocumented immigrants, decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana and freezing school vouchers, which had been a top priority of Walker.

But Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, notes that about half of Wisconsin voters approve of Evers’ job performance.

“After eight years of Republican rule, with Democrats having zero influence, there is now pent-up demand among Democrats for a Democratic agenda,” said Franklin, adding that Republicans will be incensed that “you are rejecting everything we did for the last eight years.”