AUGUSTA — With state revenues scarce as ever and the political atmosphere as fickle as the Maine weather, Gov. Paul LePage will give his second State of the State speech Tuesday evening to a legislature that’s far different from the one he addressed last year. The blunt-speaking Republican governor will present his accomplishments and goals […]
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Homebound elderly food programs in jeopardy under LePage budget cuts
LEWISTON — Problems with her lungs and legs make it impossible for Marion Gallant, 74, to stand in front of the stove and cook meals for herself and her husband Aubin, 78. Tethered to an oxygen tank and needing a walker to move around, Marion said the meals she and Aubin receive three times a […]
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Democrats want charter schools to share cuts
AUGUSTA — The Legislature’s Education Committee voted 8-5 along party lines Wednesday to include charter schools in $12.6 million in cuts to education aid, sparking the latest partisan battle on education reforms. Majority Democrats said the vote endorsed fairness. Republicans labeled it an attack on a key component of education reform measures enacted since 2011 […]
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LePage declines liquor operator’s plea to keep state contract
AUGUSTA — The company that has operated Maine’s wholesale liquor business since 2004 pledged Wednesday to help the state repay the $186 million it owes its hospitals while guaranteeing the state at least $32 million in annual revenue in exchange for continuing to operate the business for another 10 years. But swiftly declined the offer […]
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Maine explores ways to recapture liquor revenue
AUGUSTA – Those in the business of selling liquor in Maine may be missing out on as many as 200,000 cases, or $30 million worth, of hard liquor sales a year. That’s how much liquor is being consumed in Maine but being purchased somewhere else — mostly New Hampshire, according to Gerry Reid, the director […]
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Budget proposal: State would stop paying for some counselors
AUGUSTA — If the governor’s budget passes as proposed, Mainers who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid — typically those 65 and older — would no longer be allowed to see certain kinds of counselors. The proposal seeks to save $3.3 million a year by no longer paying for people to see licensed clinical […]
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LePage defends budget cuts
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage is defending his proposed two-year budget, including revenue-sharing cuts that have already created a furor among cities and towns. In his weekly radio address, the governor says he’d like to share more money with towns and cities, but the state simply does not have it. LePage also takes issue with […]
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Governor wants casino money for budget gap
AUGUSTA — A proposal by Gov. Paul LePage would take $14 million in casino funds earmarked for public schools and move it to the state General Fund to help fill a $112 million budget gap. Democratic lawmakers, including the chairman of the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee, said that would set “a really bad […]
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Republicans mixed on governor’s budget proposal
AUGUSTA — Members of the Republican Party said Thursday they can’t support the part of Gov. Paul LePage’s two-year spending plan that cuts millions of dollars from municipal budgets. State lawmakers, including current and former small-town selectmen from parts of rural Androscoggin and Franklin counties, said they couldn’t support LePage’s plan to stop — even […]
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LePage swears, storms out of meeting with independent House members, lawmakers say
AUGUSTA — swore, pounded a table and stormed out of a meeting with three independent House members last week, according to the lawmakers. The trio said they hoped to talk to the governor about alternate approaches to balancing the state budget. Instead, the lawmakers said the governor called them “idiots” and again railed against Maine’s […]