AUGUSTA (AP) — Hoping to reset the tone in the battle for control of the Legislature, Maine Republican leaders said Tuesday they kept their promises to voters by cutting taxes, reforming regulations and passing balanced budgets. The leaders also sought to distinguish the first Republican-controlled legislature since the mid-1960s from a dysfunctional Congress, saying Maine’s […]
Paul LePage
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Ex-Baldacci staff: LePage’s decision to quit governor’s association could isolate Maine
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage’s decision to stop paying membership dues to the National Governors Association threatens to shut Maine out of national policy discussions and isolate the state from opportunities, according to two high-ranking members of former Gov. John Baldacci’s administration. In explaining his decision, LePage cited the $60,000 annual NGA membership dues as […]
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Domestic violence prevention group honors Mainers
AUGUSTA (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage is joining the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence for its annual tea and awards ceremony to kick off Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Tuesday afternoon’s ceremony is being held at the governor’s residence in Augusta. The ceremony at the Blaine House will recognize LePage and other Mainers and Maine […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine’s new welfare time limit cuts thousands from rolls
AUGUSTA — The number of Maine households receiving welfare benefits through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program decreased by more than 3,000 between January and July of this year. State welfare officials and advocates agree that the approximately 26 percent drop in Maine’s TANF caseload since January results directly from the implementation this year […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Responding to concerns, state to stick with bid process on liquor contracts
AUGUSTA — The LePage administration plans to use a more traditional “request for proposals” process to invite vendors to bid on Maine’s wholesale liquor contract, the state’s administrative and financial services commissioner said Wednesday. Commissioner Sawin Millett was responding to concerns raised by Sen. Roger Katz, R-Augusta, who recently wrote to Millett to say he […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Augusta senator questions bidding process for state liquor contract
AUGUSTA — A Republican senator on the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee says he’s “uneasy” with the process the state plans to use to invite vendors to bid on Maine’s wholesale liquor contract, which the state’s Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations plans to either renegotiate or terminate in the coming months. Sen. Roger Katz of […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
UMaine trustees’ flat budget plan not good enough for LePage
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage says the University of Maine System trustees are on the right track with their plan to freeze in-state tuition for two years, but they will have to do better to get his support for maintaining state appropriations for the system at the current $176 million a year. “They [have] got […]
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Guessing at what LePage saw in cartoon
After more than three years in office, we know our governor to be an abrupt and impulsive man who often speaks curtly and then leaves the explaining to others. That’s what happened last week when the governor’s staff was left trying to explain a cartoon the governor mailed to the state’s school principals that seemed […]
Posted inOur View
Pay off the hospitals then collect the cash
Since there is apparently a pot of gold at the end of Maine’s liquor contract rainbow, it’s not too early to begin thinking about how that money should be handled. Maine Gov. Paul LePage is rumored to have his own plan, and we can only hope it’s different than the one offered in the early […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine gov continues with anti-abuse message
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage says he was impressed by his visit to central Maine’s Erskine Academy. The governor took his anti-domestic violence message during the last week to the South China high school. In his weekly radio address, LePage recalls Erskine students telling him what they’re doing to prevent violence. The students […]