AUGUSTA — Democrats on the Legislature’s budget committee voted over the weekend to end the state’s free community college program — a signature accomplishment of Gov. Janet Mills that she had proposed making permanent.

In a series of votes Friday night that stretched into Saturday morning, the appropriations committee voted against fully funding the program Mills established in 2022. Instead, it allocated $20 million, or only enough funding to offer the program to students graduating from high school this year.

David Daigler, president of the Maine Community College System, expressed “deep disappointment” that lawmakers didn’t fully fund the “successful, transformative program,” while acknowledging the “state’s challenging financial situation.”

He said the $20 million allocation means that free college will not be offered to high school students who graduate next year, although future legislatures could always allocate funds.

“It is highly unlikely there will be any changes to the free college funding at this point, but we will continue to closely monitor the legislation and work in collaboration with the governor’s office,” Daigler said in a letter to trustees. “Ultimately, the committee’s vote reflects the state’s challenging financial situation, which made it hard to get support even though free college is a very popular, effective program that directly benefits Maine families, students and employers.”

Mills had proposed making the free community college program permanent in her original budget proposal. Her staff did not respond to questions Monday about the budget committee’s vote.

“Over the past several years, we have funded the Free Community College Program on a one-time basis to evaluate whether it’s working,” Mills said in her budget address in January. “I think the answer is pretty clear, and the time has come to make free community college permanent for recent high school graduates. I hope you will support this investment in my budget.”

Lawmakers did support a 4% increase in base funding for community colleges to help pay for the state’s new paid family medical leave program.

The weekend vote on free community college was among many taken by lawmakers on the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee to wrap up budget negotiations so that lawmakers can adjourn Wednesday.

“We voted to invest in health care, nursing homes, education and housing — all needed to do right by Maine people, who are just trying to stay afloat,” budget co-chair Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, said in a written statement announcing the budget agreement. “We don’t know what is to come from the federal government, which is why this is not a flashy budget. It is steady during a time of external chaos. It prepares us well for the future.”

A spokesperson for legislative Democrats said details of the final spending plan, including the topline spending number, would not be available until the budget bill is printed by nonpartisan staff.

Since Democrats control both the House and Senate, the votes taken over the weekend provide a glimpse of how floor votes might go this week, although amendments can always be added.

Lawmakers were confronted with a budget deficit at the beginning of the session amid rising costs and flattening state revenues.

Democrats, including Mills, have supported a series of tax increases to maintain current services and to close a roughly $120 million deficit in MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program. Republicans have repeatedly to vowed to oppose any budget that includes tax increases.

Democrats on the budget committee voted to increase the cigarette tax from $2 a pack to $3.50 a pack, which is a 50 cents more than originally proposed by Mills. They also voted in support of Mills’ proposal to apply the state’s 5.5% sales and use tax to streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu and Spotify, and increasing the cannabis tax.

Further, Democrats advanced an amended version of Mills’ proposal to roll back recent tax cuts for people with pensions. Mills called for cuts on single people making $100,000 in pension income and couples making $200,000, which would lead to tax increases for more than 22,160 people. Democrats increased those thresholds to $125,000 and $250,000, respectively.

The committee also declined to eliminate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for noncitizens and implement reforms to the General Assistance program proposed by Mills, while continuing to fund universal free school meals and adding $12 million in funding for GA, a safety net program of last resort that has increasingly been used to provide extended housing support.

Lawmakers are expected to vote on the biennial budget in the coming days.