MILLINOCKET — Town leaders will appeal to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Friday a lower-court decision denying the town $216,000 in state education funding that Gov. Paul LePage ordered withheld last year. Councilors informally agreed to pursue the appeal during a meeting on Thursday, a day before the filing deadline. No vote was taken […]
Paul LePage
Posted inOur View
Retain the existing cap on charter schools
As a realist, Gov. Paul LePage probably knows legislation to eliminate the cap on creating new charter schools is likely doomed in a Democratic Legislature. But we would hope many Republican legislators also agree that lifting the cap after a single year, and before the cap has even been reached, is totally premature. Department of […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Feds allow limited cuts to Medicaid, not to level sought by LePage
AUGUSTA, Maine — The federal government will allow Maine to make limited cuts to its Medicaid program, but not to the extent Gov. Paul LePage ’s administration had sought last yearas it looked to close a $20 million budget hole. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday notified state officials that they can cut some low-income […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage to propose more measures to limit welfare
The LePage administration is proposing bills that would make drug felons ineligible for benefits through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, program and bar food stamp recipients from spending their benefits on soft drinks and certain snack foods. The proposals are coming even as Democrats who are less likely to be receptive to […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine constitutional officials to take oaths
AUGUSTA (AP) — Janet Mills and Matthew Dunlap will return to their previous jobs as attorney general and secretary of state respectively as Maine’s three constitutional officers are sworn in by Gov. Paul LePage. The third, Neria Douglass, takes over as state treasurer as term limits bring her service as Maine auditor to an end. […]
Posted inLetters
M. Pendleton: LePage is keeping his promises
My wife and I voted for Paul LePage for governor of Maine. At times, we have thought that he should think about what he is going to say before he says it; nevertheless, we like him. One of the strong points he has exhibited while in office is that he is trying to follow up […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage wants to remove cap on charter schools
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage is preparing legislation that would eliminate the cap on the number of charter schools allowed in Maine, an initiative that is sure to cause significant debate among incoming lawmakers who already face a weighty agenda and difficult funding issues in the education sector. Department of Education spokesman David Connerty-Marin said […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage wants to add teeth to child abuse reporting law
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage has his eye on Maine’s law that obligates professionals who are in regular contact with children to alert state child welfare officials when they suspect child abuse or neglect. The state Department of Health and Human Services has submitted a bill titled “An Act to Strengthen Mandatory Reporting Laws” for […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Judge rejects Millinocket’s $216,000 lawsuit against LePage
In a single-page ruling town officials released Thursday, Kennebec County Superior Court Justice Nancy Mills dismissed the complaint because Millinocket’s request for the additional funding was filed after the 30-day deadline imposed by the Maine Administrative Procedures Act. Under the law, Maine Attorney General William Schneider had argued on behalf of the state, a civil […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage’s cutback order brings Appropriations Committee back early
AUGUSTA (AP) — Four days before the House and Senate are scheduled to return to the State House to get down to business for the 2013 session, the Appropriations Committee will be reporting for duty Friday — at leaders’ request. On its agenda is a $35.5 million curtailment order signed a week ago by Gov. […]