If you’re looking for some reality TV, you might attend the next monthly meeting of the Maine State House Authority board. Since November, when four new appointees of Gov. Paul LePage created a Republican majority, the meetings have resembled, to put it mildly, a circus. Last week, Chairman Peter Anastos, a hotel developer, opened with […]
Paul LePage
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Feds confirm high hurdle for DHHS cuts; LePage officials prepared to take case to D.C.
AUGUSTA — The federal agency that will decide whether some of Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed Medicaid cuts qualify for waivers to make the reductions legal reaffirmed Thursday that the exemptions face long odds. In a written response to the Democratic leads on the Legislature’s budgetary committee, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services confirmed […]
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LePage crashes DHHS deliberations: ‘Get this done’
AUGUSTA — As lawmakers on the Legislature’s budgetary committee grilled the chief of the Department of Health and Human Services on Friday on whether the state would receive federal waivers to make some of Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed Medicaid reductions legal, a member of the audience was eager to talk. LePage. The governor raised his […]
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Environmental groups outline opposition, support for upcoming initiatives
AUGUSTA — A coalition of environmental advocates on Thursday presented its list of priority bills that the Legislature is slated to address during the abbreviated session. Several of the proposals could be contentious, including a bill to reform the Land Use Regulation Commission, the state agency that oversees development in the unorganized territories. The group, […]
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Local lawmakers divided on LePage address
AUGUSTA — Local lawmakers had a mixed reaction to Gov. Paul LePage’s State of the State address that focused on some policy initiatives that are currently under debate and several others that remain light on specifics. The governor spent much of his approximately 50-minute speech focusing on his proposed cuts to the Department of Health […]
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State of the State address: Governor LePage’s script
Governor LePage’s 2012 State of the State Address: President Raye, Speaker Nutting, Chief Justice Saufley, members of the 125th Legislature, distinguished guests, and my fellow citizens. I am here tonight to update the Legislature on the condition of our great state. However, before I begin, I want to recognize and thank a few people. First […]
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Legislative committee green lights new Maine anti-bullying bill
AUGUSTA — After the Legislature’s Education Committee voted unanimously to pass a new anti-bullying bill, Marc Mutty of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland reached out and shook the hand of the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Terry Morrison, D-South Portland. It was a brief exchange, an easily overlooked moment. But to Morrison, who is openly gay, […]
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Maine Democrats blast LePage before State of the State address
AUGUSTA, Maine — A day before Gov. Paul LePage is to deliver his first State of the State address, House and Senate Democratic leaders challenged him to “put aside ideology and extremism” and set a more positive tone for the year ahead. At a noontime press conference on Monday, more than two dozen Democrats stood […]
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Maine Democrats urge LePage to bag combative tone during State of the State address
AUGUSTA — Democratic lawmakers on Monday launched a volley of pre-emptive rhetoric against Gov. Paul LePage, urging the governor to shelve his combative tone during his State of the State address. The news conference was unusual given that the minority party typically waits until after the State of State to respond to an address that […]
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LePage: Maine on way to economic recovery
AUGUSTA (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage declared Tuesday night that Maine has made a turn toward economic recovery, but said much more needs to be done to complete the job by making the state and its job creators competitive. In his first State of the State speech since he took office just over a year […]