Tag Archives: budget

The Frame: Late night at the State House

Maine House of Representatives Sergeant at Arms Normand Arbor and page Alyson Pelletier rip notices off the wall as legislators leave the House early Wednesday morning after passing a two-year budget. Troy R. Bennett | BDN
Maine House of Representatives Sergeant at Arms Normand Arbor and page Alyson Pelletier rip notices off the wall as legislators leave the House early Wednesday morning after passing a two-year budget. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

The time stamp on this photo reads 12:45 a.m. The smile on page Alyson Pelletier’s face spoke for most everyone. Lots of folks were unhappy with the details of the two-year budget the Legislature had just approved, but nobody was sad to go home.

I stayed until the bitter end, as the budget bounced back and forth between the Senate and the House for the various procedural votes. I was hoping to get fist pump pictures or maybe a high-five. But that didn’t happen. Everyone was too exhausted.

I filed out the door of the House with everyone else and heard a gleeful ripping of paper. That’s where I found what might have been the only smile in the building, on Pelletier’s face.

– TROY.