Gov. Paul LePage said in a Tuesday radio appearance that he’ll veto legislative leaders’ $4.8 million proposal aimed at fighting Maine’s drug crisis. The Republican governor railed against the proposal in perhaps his strongest terms on WVOM, making the dubious claim that the sponsors “put the names of the companies that will get the money” […]
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Posted inMaine
Lawmakers get first look at bill meant to fight Maine’s addiction crisis
AUGUSTA — A trio of legislative committees Tuesday took a first look at a $4.9 million bill meant to increase treatment for drug addicts and put more drug agents on the street to stop the flow of illicit drugs into Maine. But lawmakers already were split on the measure, which would fund 10 new Maine […]
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Jeff McCabe, Troy Jackson to run for Maine Senate seats
AUGUSTA — House Majority Leader Jeff McCabe and former Senate Majority Leader Troy Jackson announced Maine Senate campaigns on Monday, kicking off the Democratic campaign to take back the chamber in 2016. Their entries aren’t a surprise: For months, both have been publicly mulling bids to run in districts held by Republicans, who hold a […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Analysis: This legislative session to be more about politics than policy
The gridlock of split majorities in the House and Senate and a veto-happy governor means the 2016 legislative session will center more on politics than on policy. It’s often said lawmakers accomplish little of consequence during the second session of each two-year legislature because they are too busy positioning for the next election. With three […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Legislators want to use settlement to pay for drug agents
AUGUSTA — Leaders in the Maine Legislature have proposed funding most of a $4.8 million package aimed at curbing the state’s drug epidemic with money gained in a settlement with a Wall Street ratings agency. The funding mechanism is supported by Attorney General Janet Mills, the Democrat who controls the money, but Gov. Paul LePage, a […]
Posted inLivermore Falls Advertiser, Maine
Sen. Tom Saviello offers Medicaid expansion bill to fight addiction
AUGUSTA — Hoping to tap readily available federal funding that could help fight Maine’s heroin addiction crisis, a pair of state GOP lawmakers is again proposing legislation to expand Maine’s Medicaid system. Sen. Tom Saviello, R-Wilton, who has previously supported an expansion of the state and federally sponsored health insurance program for low-income families and […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Working Families PAC fined for not reporting all expenditures
AUGUSTA — A Portland legislator’s political action committee was fined $2,000 on Wednesday by Maine ethics regulators for leaving some expenditures unreported for more than a year. The Working Families PAC, which is run by Rep. Diane Russell, a Democrat, omitted just more than $1,200 in expenditures from a report due in October 2014. They […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine Ethics Commission fines lobbyist Joel Allumbaugh
AUGUSTA — A Maine ethics board fined a conservative lobbyist $50 for violating a little-known law requiring lobbyists to identify the group they’re working for when testifying before a legislative committee. The case of Joel Allumbaugh is the first time that the Maine Ethics Commission has examined a 2006 statute requiring lobbyists to identify the […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Analysis: Why conflict is very likely in the 2016 legislative session
The question going into the January legislative session is whether that rift will block hopes of any effective legislative action in a four-month session that will open and close with the specter of November legislative elections enshrouding the State House dome. LePage spent the final weeks of this year’s session vetoing nearly every bill that […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Why it takes so long to hire, train MDEA investigators
AUGUSTA — While Maine’s political leaders seem to have reached agreement on a plan to put more drug crimes investigators to work in Maine, it could be months before those agents hit the streets. In response to the rampant spread of heroin trafficking in Maine, Gov. Paul LePage and a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers this […]