The Republican governors tout their no-nonsense styles and greet diners at Becky’s Diner in Portland.

The governor says a $2.6 million plan to provide help to them is ‘a shell game with taxpayer’s money.’

But councilors appear split over how much aid to provide, who would qualify and how long it might continue at local taxpayers’ expense.

As a budget deal in Augusta eliminates public assistance for legal non-citizens who took refuge in Maine, the city must decide if its property taxpayers will foot the bill.

The mostly party-line vote means the bill could be rejected in the Republican-controlled Senate, however.