The Maine state legislature voted on its biannual budget Thursday night, but the session was delayed by a prolonged debate over transgender athlete inclusion and the censure of Republican Rep. Laurel Libby.
Libby, who was censured by Maine’s Democratic majority and Speaker Ryan Fecteau for a social media post identifying an underage trans athlete, proposed several amendments to the state’s budget via a loophole in the state legislative policy.
Libby submitted 10 floor amendments to the budget Tuesday before the deadline to do so, which isn’t prevented by a censure. So, Libby was permitted to speak and present those amendments during Thursday’s session. One of those amendments was not related to the budget, but was a proposal to keep trans athletes out of girls sports.
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However, when Libby did speak to present her amendments, multiple Democrats protested, instigating a debate with Republican representatives.
“During that four-minute presentation process, there ended up being a floor debate … between the Republicans and Democrats regarding my censure. So, there was essentially a second vote regarding the censure, reaffirming the Democrats’ commitment to silencing my voice and my vote,” Libby said.
The Maine State House at dawn, Jan. 3, 2024, in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
In addition to Libby’s proposal to ban trans athletes from girls sports, she proposed multiple budget bills that would have lowered taxes and government spending. These proposals included a repeal of a tax on solar energy, a repeal of free community college and a repeal of a recent 1% payroll tax.
But Libby’s amendments were not even considered, and Democrats moved to have the amendments indefinitely postponed.
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“I was not able to speak to them, to advocate for them and push for the benefit that they would bring to Maine people,” Libby said.
Ultimately, the budget that passed did not include any Republican input. The Maine House approved the $11.3 billion spending plan by a 74-67 vote along party lines. The Senate passed it 18-17 with two Democrats joining Republicans in opposition.
Libby was censured Feb. 25 because of a social media post of hers that identified a minor by name with a photo. Libby’s post pointed out that a transgender track and field athlete had taken first place at a Maine girls pole vault competition after the athlete competed as a boy just one year earlier.
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“It’s a remarkable double standard as there are public photos of this individual in many places, on social media and even some posted by his school. And, so, yes, this post went viral, but this was an individual who participated in a public event, who publicly stood on a podium and accepted a championship medal that rightfully belonged to the girls standing on the second-place spot,” Libby previously told Fox News Digital.
Libby filed a lawsuit against Fecteau and Maine House Clerk Robert Hunt, which seeks to have her voting and speaking rights restored.
Libby represents more than 9,000 constituents in Maine’s House District 90, and six of them have signed onto the lawsuit as plaintiffs because the censure has prevented her from carrying out other legislative actions to serve those constituents.
“The speaker’s actions did not just disenfranchise me but disenfranchised the thousands of constituents that I represent, and that’s the bigger picture here; the fact that the speaker, in his eyes, retaliated against me because he doesn’t like what I have to say,” Libby previously told Fox News Digital.
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