Awaiting Baldacci

The full Legislature has now passed a bill that would delay by a year the penalties levied on school systems that turned down state-mandated school district mergers.

The passage has been by a veto-proof margin, ensuring that the law could take effect even if Gov. John Baldacci vetoes the legislation before the Legislature adjourns. The two-thirds approval in both legislative chambers also keeps the penalties delay from becoming a competing measure on the same ballot that features a question offering a repeal of Maine's school district consolidation law.

For now, advocates for rolling back the consolidation penalties are eagerly awaiting Baldacci's decision on the bill, L.D. 285. And Baldacci isn't saying much.

A spokesman, Dan Cashman, told me today the governor has yet to review the bill with advisers and come up with a stance.

"He's sympathetic to the situation that's going on," Cashman said. But "he still believes amongst all that that school districts need to reform, consolidate, restructure. He feels the current structure is way too outdated."

The governor, it seems, needs to decide whether delaying consolidation penalties by a year fundamentally interferes with his ultimate consolidation goals: merging Maine's 290 school districts into a more manageable number of regional districts.

Once the bill lands on Baldacci's desk, he has 10 days to act on it. If he wants to play politics, though, he doesn't have to take any action. The Legislature plans to adjourn on Friday, and if the governor hasn't affixed his signature to anything at that point, it's considered a veto -- and legislators would have to reconvene to override it.