Gov. Janet Mills signed into law a $519 million budget Friday that permanently extends a signature initiative of her administration: the state’s free community college program.

The budget, which adds to an $11.65 billion two-year spending plan approved last year, also includes a new millionaires’ tax, $300 “affordability checks” for eligible taxpayers and a ban on cellphones in schools.

Funding to set up a program to track sexual assault examination kits — something lawmakers have repeatedly tried and failed to pass in past years — is also included in the new budget.

Mills signed the budget, approved by lawmakers earlier this week, at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor, highlighting the free community college program.

“This biennial budget should send a clear message to every young person in Maine: if you are willing to work hard and build your future here, Maine is ready to invest in your success,” Mills said in a written statement.

FREE COMMUNITY COLLEGE PERMANENT

Maine’s free community college program, which pays for two years of tuition for recent high school graduates, was started in 2022 and has served more than 23,000 students to date, according to the state.

While the program was previously funded on a temporary basis, the budget signed by Mills Friday makes it a permanent program. Education leaders praised the change, saying it will also boost Maine’s economy.

“Future high school graduates now have the means and opportunity to pursue a path they may have felt was financially out of reach,” said David Daigler, president of the Maine Community College System, in a statement from Mills’ office Friday.

The budget is the last spending plan of Mills’ tenure, given that she is term-limited and is running for U.S. Senate. Continuing to fund free community college was a top priority for the governor, who also pushed for the inclusion of other education initiatives in the plan.

The budget continues to have the state fund 55% of local education costs — a milestone in state spending on education that was first achieved by Mills in 2021 — and raises the minimum salary for schoolteachers from the current $40,000 to $45,000 by 2027 and $50,000 by 2029.

The budget also includes language creating a statewide ban on cellphones in classrooms.

MILLIONAIRES’ TAX, RELIEF CHECKS

The most controversial pieces of the budget are a new surcharge on income for people earning over $1 million annually and the $300 relief checks that are funded with Maine’s Budget Stabilization Fund, commonly known as the “rainy day fund.”

The millionaire’s tax — which was not in the governor’s original budget proposal and was added by Democratic lawmakers — adds an income tax surcharge of 2% onto the portion of a resident’s taxable income beyond $1 million for single filers, $1.5 million for heads of households and $1.5 million for joint filers.

Both initiatives drew heavy criticism from Republicans, and some Democrats also questioned using the rainy day fund for the checks.

“(Democrats) jammed through a partisan budget built on reckless spending, tax hikes and raids on our state’s reserve fund,” Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle, said in a written statement Thursday. “This is what one-party control looks like: higher taxes, no accountability and hardworking Mainers left paying the price.”

Democratic leaders, meanwhile, praised the budget Friday, saying it makes important investments in child care, housing and health care and will lower costs for Maine families.

“Democrats are delivering a fiscally responsible, balanced budget,” said House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford. “It will strengthen existing programs and fund them sustainably into the future by finally asking the wealthiest Mainers to pay their fair share.”

In all, the $519 million budget draws on $292 million in one-time spending from the rainy day fund, which is typically set aside for emergencies and budget shortfalls. Mills’ office said Friday that the balance is now at more than $738 million, calling that a “robust and healthy amount.”

WHAT ELSE IS IN BUDGET?

The governor’s office said the budget also includes expanded tax relief, such as an increase in the Property Tax Fairness Credit from $1,000 to $1,500 for eligible residents under age 65.

Following two deadly school bus crashes in Rockland and Standish, the budget includes $5.9 million in one-time funds for anti-pinch door sensors and crossing arms on school buses.

It includes $267,000 annually for the Department of Public Safety to establish and operate a tracking system for sexual assault forensic examination kits, and $1.1 million to implement the new “red flag” law approved by voters in November.

The law gives family members of people found to be at risk of harming themselves or others the ability to petition a judge to have their weapons removed, and also makes it easier for law enforcement to petition the court to take a person’s weapons away.

Reproductive rights advocates Friday praised the budget for its inclusion of $7.25 million to support Maine-based reproductive health care providers and offset federal funding cuts from the Trump administration.

“Today is a win for patients in Maine,” said Nicole Clegg, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.

The budget is scheduled to take effect in mid-July, 90 days after the Legislature adjourns. Adjournment is scheduled for next week.