The 2023 winter heating relief law
What they say
In the October 8 debate he said that in Maine he put forward a $400 million heating relief package that won support from both parties and passed as an emergency.
What the record shows ·
LD 3, presented by Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross in December 2022 with Jackson, then Senate President, as its only cosponsor, set up the Winter Energy Relief Payment Program. It put $398 million into one-time $450 relief payments and $71 million into heating aid and emergency housing. As an emergency bill it needed two-thirds of each chamber. The House enacted it 114 to 29, with Republicans among the yeas, and the Senate the same day, January 4, 2023, and the Governor signed it that day as Public Law 2023, chapter 1.
Limit: The Legislature lists the Speaker as sponsor and him as cosponsor. The package was larger than he said, about $469 million. The captions have him saying he was appropriations chair then; he was Senate President. The Senate's final vote was not a roll call, so it does not show how each senator voted.