The Maine Senate likely doomed Gov. Paul LePage’s plan to house violent psychiatric patients at the Maine State Prison after opposing it by just one vote on Wednesday. The Republican governor’s proposal drew heat from advocates as a violation of patients’ civil rights after it was announced in February, but it’s a response to issues […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Legislative panel endorses Kathleen Chase for BEP post
BANGOR — Gov. Paul LePage’s nominee to the Maine Board of Environmental Protection has narrowly won committee approval. Kathleen Chase, a former Republican representative from Wells, received a 6-5 endorsement this week. The vote was largely along party lines. The Natural Resources Council of Maine opposed Chase’s nomination, saying she previously sponsored a bill that […]
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Hayride victim Cassidy Charette’s family disappointed by state report
AUGUSTA — The family of an Oakland teen who died in a hayride accident in 2014 said they were disappointed with the findings of a legislative working group that was set up to examine ways to regulate farm amusement rides. Cassidy Charette, 17, died Oct. 11, 2014, when a trailer she was riding on in a […]
Posted inMaine
State budget bill faces stiff GOP resistance in Maine House
AUGUSTA — Lacking the two-thirds support necessary to overcome a possible Gov. Paul LePage veto, an $11 million supplemental state budget appeared all but dead late Tuesday. The measure, which among other things would boost the pay of state law enforcement officers and workers at two state-run mental health hospitals, gained a strong 30-4 vote in […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Budget deal makes it out of committee despite GOP resistance
AUGUSTA — Lawmakers on the Appropriations Committee on Monday voted out two versions of a supplemental budget, with House Republicans again bucking the rest of the committee on new spending. The committee voted 8-4 in favor of an approximately $11 million spending plan. The funding would apply to bills that have already won passage. Legislators […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Gov. Paul LePage signs law; lobster is official Maine crustacean
BREWER — Maine is the fourth state in the nation to have an official crustacean, thanks to the dedication of a group of 8- and 9-year-olds from Brewer Community School. Maine Gov. Paul LePage traveled to the school Monday morning to sign into law the bill that made the American lobster the official crustacean of […]
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Maine Senate delays votes until Susan Deschambault seated
AUGUSTA — The Republican-controlled Maine Senate is refusing to hold roll call votes until Gov. Paul LePage swears in the Democrat who won last Tuesday’s special election for a vacant Senate seat. A spokesman for Senate President Mike Thibodeau, a Republican, said that Thibodeau has agreed to not hold votes for controversial bills until Sen.-elect […]
Posted inMaine
Logjam on funding for veterans bills breaks in Maine House
AUGUSTA — A quiver of bills meant to better assist Maine veterans as well as cover University of Maine and community college tuition costs for members of the state’s National Guard gained unanimous approval Friday in state House of Representatives. The legislation, much of it a result or recommendations from a special commission that examined […]
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Gov. Paul LePage delays swearing in Democratic senator
Gov. Paul LePage’s office said Friday morning that the governor will not swear in a new Democratic Senator who won a special election for a Biddeford-area Senate seat earlier this week. Mario Moretto, a spokesman for the Senate, said Susan Deschambeault, who won the Senate District 32 seat on Tuesday in a special election, has […]
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Legislative panel rejects LePage nominee for unemployment commission
UPDATE: Gov. Paul LePage delays swearing in Democratic senator AUGUSTA — Legislative Democrats and one independent scuttled Gov. Paul LePage’s nominee to a state unemployment appeals board on Thursday, prompting an angry response from the administration. In a party-line vote, the Maine Legislature’s labor committee voted 7-6 against South Portland police Detective Sgt. Steven Webster’s nomination […]