Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing Republicans in the Legislature could do to stop the Democrats from employing a ridiculous procedural gimmick to force through a reckless budget on a party-line vote yet again.

To review: Democrats passed a majority budget, then adjourned the Legislature with a huge amount of work left undone, only to have the governor call them back for a special session to allow them to finish doing their jobs.

This flies in the face of the spirit of the rules of the Legislature and the Maine Constitution, but it’s within the letter of the laws and the rules — and it’s sadly become standard operating procedure under Gov. Janet Mills, the least bipartisan governor of Maine ever.

So, Republicans couldn’t stop it, and there’s little they can do stop it from being used in the future. In order to remove this tool, they’d have to pass a constitutional amendment, which, since it requires the support of two-thirds of the Legislature, they probably couldn’t do even if they regain the majority. All they can do is work to educate the public about the process as part of their quest to regain the majority, but that will be a part of the 2026 campaigns, not this forthcoming special session of the Legislature.

Now that Democrats have their baseline budget, and they’re wasting taxpayer money on a special session, what can Republicans do to make their opposition to all of this clear?

First and foremost, they ought to make it obvious that they will oppose any future budgets for the remainder of Mills’ term, regardless of the circumstances. Force the Democrats to go it alone from the beginning from now on, rather than waste time pretending they’re interested in bipartisanship.

Right now, as we head into the Democrats’ completely unnecessary special session of the Legislature, there’s quite a lot they can do to gum up the works, drawing out the special session and making their full displeasure totally and completely clear to the Democratic majority.

Fiscally, a single day of a special session costs more than a single day of regular session, and Republicans should try to draw this one out and make it as expensive as possible. If Democrats accuse them of wasting time and money, they can always reply that they wouldn’t even be having this session were it not for their earlier budget games.

Under the current rules — and it’s been this way for a long time — any divided committee report on legislation results in a vote on the floor. Republicans ought to make sure that, during this special session, every single piece of legislation — no matter how routine or uncontroversial — does not pass out of committee unanimously.

When a bill is passed unanimously by the committee, it ends up on the consent calendar, and it can be passed without debate or votes. If it’s rejected unanimously by a committee, it’s killed without even a floor vote. A single member in every committee can ensure that it never happens, and Republicans ought to take advantage of this mechanism on every single bill.

They can do more than just have a divided report on every bill, though — they can offer amendments in committee, too. They should offer as many as they can, forcing more divided reports and debate on the floor. As committee work moves along, they can do everything in their power to slow it down, requesting more time, or additional public hearings and work sessions.

Speaking of that debate on the floor, you’ve probably heard of cloture and filibusters in the U.S. Senate. In the Maine Legislature, debate is virtually unlimited under the rules. The presiding officer can close debate, but can’t do so unilaterally. The chamber would have to vote on it, and that takes more time. Republicans should force them to do that a lot — in fact, on just about every piece of legislation. They won’t be able to stop the majority from doing what they want in this unnecessary special session, but they can make it painful for them.

This might seem petty and pointless, but it actually does serve a purpose: imposing at least some penalty on the majority for engaging in these budgetary games.

Republicans can’t stop Democrats from doing what they want in Augusta, but they can at least make it painful for them. If they get together and are unified on this approach before the special session begins — unlike before the budget battle — Democrats might think twice about going that route again.