AUGUSTA — Victoria Vose watched quietly as lawmakers and advocates stood at the base of the stairs in the Hall of Flags at the Maine State House and made their case Wednesday for why the Legislature should pass a child welfare reform before the session adjourned.

When it was her turn to speak, Vose stepped to the podium holding the last photo taken of her 3-year-old grandson, Maddox Williams, who was killed by his mother in 2021 after the family had years of involvement with Child Protective Services. A second photo showed his small casket covered with flowers.

“And so I ask with every ounce of grief in my body: How many more children have to die before the state says enough?” Vose asked.

Vose spoke during a rally in support of LD 127, a bill with bipartisan support that would have given the Government Oversight Committee access to confidential child welfare records.

After lawmakers returned to Augusta on Wednesday to take up vetoes and the last business of the session, both the House and Senate voted in favor of the bill, but it still needed enactment votes in both chambers. The Senate voted shortly after 4:30 p.m. to adjourn for the session, hours before the House was supposed to vote.

That move effectively kills the bill, said Rep. David Boyer, R-Poland, who organized the rally, which was attended by several dozen people earlier in the day.

Sen. Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, a longtime advocate of child welfare reform, was one of several Republican senators who spoke against adjourning before work on the bill was done. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop, and fellow Democratic Sen. Donna Bailey of Saco also voted against adjourning.

“This was an opportunity to allow (the Government Oversight Committee) to look behind the iron curtain and start the path toward real reform,” Timberlake said in a statement after the vote to adjourn. “Instead, Senate Democrats ran for cover and disregarded their responsibilities as legislators.”

A spokesperson for Senate Democrats did not respond Thursday to a request for comment.

Before the House voted to adjourn at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Rep. Adam Lee, D-Auburn, a member of the Government Oversight Committee who supported the bill, said he was frustrated that the bill died on the table.

“I hope I can come back next year and channel the frustrations I feel into making it a law,” he said.

Supporters of the bill have argued that access to the records is necessary for the Legislature to hold the executive branch and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services accountable. But some lawmakers and state officials have raised concerns about allowing access to the information and said the state risks losing $72 million in federal block grant funds for DHHS if confidentiality requirements are not followed.

Maine’s child welfare system has long been an area of concern for state policymakers and has faced increased scrutiny starting in late 2017 and early 2018 following the deaths of four children who were in state custody or whose families had contact with child protective services. Since then, DHHS, which includes the Office of Child and Family Services, has faced calls for reform.

Hickman has said he presented the bill in response to a 2024 Maine Supreme Judicial Court decision to uphold a lower court ruling that DHHS did not have to comply with a request from lawmakers for records about the deaths of four children. The Government Oversight Committee sued the department in 2022 in an effort to obtain them.

The bill would have authorized the committee to meet in executive session to review working papers that were considered and referenced in Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability reports. It would have required members of the committee to sign a code of conduct in order to be authorized to meet in executive session, which they could only enter after a two-thirds vote in favor of meeting behind closed doors.

The bill would also have allowed lawmakers to be prosecuted, so anyone who released confidential information could be disciplined.

During floor debates, there was pushback from lawmakers who said they were concerned that the confidential information could be leaked, used for political gain or deter families from engaging with child welfare services. Gov. Janet Mills’ administration also opposed the bill.

Boyer called concerns about information being leaked “red herrings” and a distraction from the need to give the Legislature the ability to do its job.

“It’s a systemic issue that needs to be addressed,” he said. “This is not a time for partisanship.”

Lee, the representative from Auburn, said during the rally on Wednesday that the committee needs “every tool in the toolbox to do the investigatory work necessary to make sure Augusta is not broken like Washington.”

Another member of the committee, Rep. Chad Perkins, R-Dover-Foxcroft, said he believes DHHS is a “broken system” and that change is needed to make sure the state has a system that protects Maine children.

Vose, the grandmother of Maddox Williams, said DHHS missed opportunities to protect her grandson. An independent review of the state’s handling of the family’s child protection case found caseworkers didn’t make any “unsound” decisions before his death, but cited several missed opportunities and highlighted the state’s decision not to fight in court for the child’s father to maintain custody.

Vose said during the rally that “there’s still a chance to change things for other children.” She said that requires giving lawmakers the ability to see what is happening in the child welfare system.

“I refuse to be silent. My grief is not quiet. My grief is not polite. My grief is a demand to do your job,” she said. “Protect children. No more excuses, no more failures, no more funerals.”

Staff Writer Billy Kobin contributed to this story.

Editor’s note: This story was updated April 30 correct which Democratic senators voted against adjournment.