AUGUSTA — Maine lawmakers have defeated a bill that would have allowed doctors to provide lethal doses of medication to terminally ill patients. Republican Sen. Roger Katz’s bill died Tuesday because the Senate and House failed to agree on the bill. The Republican-controlled Senate narrowly rejected the bill with an 18-17 vote earlier this week. […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
How LePage could use line-item vetoes on budget [Analysis]
AUGUSTA — Despite the fact that most of Gov. Paul LePage’s budget priorities were pushed out of consideration weeks ago, his influence over negotiations was evident even in the final moments before the House and Senate took their long-awaited enactment votes early Wednesday morning. And now that the budget is back in LePage’s hands, he […]
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Budget in LePage’s hands after Legislature passes $6.7 billion plan
The deal, finalized around 12:30 a.m., culminated months of sometimes acrimonious negotiations over the contentious two-year spending plan, which began in January when Gov. Paul LePage proposed sweeping changes to the state’s tax code and social safety net programs. The final deal approved by the Legislature is significantly less broad than LePage’s plan, but Republicans […]
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Legislature takes first steps toward passing budget, avoiding shutdown
AUGUSTA, Maine — By late Tuesday night, the Legislature had taken the first steps toward approving a two-year, $6.7 billion spending plan and averting a government shutdown. Representatives in the House gave the compromise unanimous support in an initial vote Tuesday evening, and the Senate unanimously passed a slightly modified version several hours later around […]
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Maine House OKs budget deal that includes tax cuts, welfare reform
AUGUSTA — A two-year state $6.6 billion budget deal tentatively agreed to by Maine’s top Democratic and Republican lawmakers and awaiting votes in the Legislature will include income tax cuts and welfare reforms but not to the extent Republican Gov. Paul LePage wanted. Lawmakers did accept some of LePage’s budget proposals including the elimination of the […]
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Price tag holds up handgun bill
AUGUSTA — Despite winning majority votes in the Maine Legislature, a bill doing away with permit requirements for those carrying a concealed handgun might be holstered because of its price tag. The bill, LD 652, will cost the state more than $200,000 a year in lost permit and fine revenue and could cost as much […]
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Legislature overturns eight more LePage vetoes
AUGUSTA — The Maine House of Representative has overridden Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s rejection of eight more bills. Among the vetoed bills overturned by the Democratic-controlled House on Monday is one that seeks to ensure that standardized tests taken by children ages 4 through 9 can’t be used to restrict their entrance into kindergarten or […]
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Maine right to work bill dies in Legislature
AUGUSTA — Republicans’ efforts to make Maine a so-called “right-to-work” state failed, again, on Monday with a 21-14 vote against the concept in the Senate. LD 489 was already on life support following a 90-52 House of Representatives vote against it last week. The bill would have prevented organized labor unions from collecting representation fees […]
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Bill allowing assisted suicide in Maine fails in Senate
AUGUSTA — The concept of allowing terminally ill patients to end their own lives under a doctor’s supervision hit a roadblock Monday when the Senate voted 18-17 against it. The bill, LD 1270, would allow physician-assisted suicide in Maine but only with a range of caveats, including that the patient has to take lethal drugs […]
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Maine House rejects Sawicki’s unvaccinated rights bill
AUGUSTA — The Maine House has rejected a bill that aims to outlaw the discrimination of people who choose not be vaccinated. The Democratic-controlled House voted 102-42 against Republican Rep. David Sawicki’s bill on Monday. It faces further votes. The bill would amend the Maine Human Rights Act to ensure that people who forgo vaccinations […]