The last eight days saw a historical first in Maine government as Gov. Paul LePage cast a pair of line-item vetoes to dilute a bipartisan budget compromise.

Then, in a secret vote, Republican lawmakers decided not to support the compromise they had publicly backed just a few days earlier.

Of the two moves, LePage’s was the least surprising. The governor stood firm on an ideological position that he wanted to cut public access to the state’s last-stop safety-net program, General Assistance, even if that meant passing on the burden to taxpayers in Maine’s cities and towns.

The legislators’ stance was a bigger surprise. Their leadership worked hard for a compromise with Democrats even though they could have passed the budget with only Republican votes. They listened to mayors from around the state and crafted changes that would reduce benefits and cut costs without upending municipal budgets. They passed the compromise with a unanimous vote in the Senate and a 120-26 margin in the House.

But when they needed only a simple majority to override LePage’s vetoes, Republicans would not return to Augusta for a vote.

Since then, they have been called a lot of names — most notably cowards, by Barry Hobbins of Saco, the Senate Democratic leader. But the GOP’s action could just as easily be seen as quite brave — if not reckless.

Legislative Republicans have ceded their authority as the leaders of a coequal branch of government and tied their political futures to an unpopular governor. Paul LePage’s name may not appear on a ballot again until 2014, but it might as well be penciled in next to that of every Republican incumbent who seeks re-election this year.

Fear of the governor was clearly more important to these lawmakers than keeping their word. Sen. Richard Rosen, R-Bucksport, the moderate co-chair of the Appropriations Committee, said he did not support overriding the veto because he was afraid of what LePage might do.

“The governor made it clear that if we did override, he would veto the entire budget,” Rosen said.

Rosen said the shortfall created by LePage’s veto can be addressed when lawmakers come back to finish their work for the session on May 15.

But he didn’t say why Democrats should bother talking to members of his party who won’t stand up for their agreements if they governor doesn’t approve of them.

We have criticized LePage in the past for not respecting the legislative process and acting as if independently elected legislators worked for him. But perhaps we owe LePage an apology.

Apparently, the Republican legislators we thought answered only to the voters of their districts really do work for the governor, and any agreement they make should be cleared by his office before it can be trusted.

If that means the end of the Legislature as a coequal branch of government, that would be another historic first.

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