Nuggets from the notebook while reviewing the mandate for Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed new state agency . . . Starting Tuesday LePage’s proposed $221 million in cuts in the state’s MaineCare program will take center stage as the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee begins its review of the governor’s restructuring plan. But flying under the radar is […]
Paul LePage
Posted inMaine
Battle lines drawn on LePage’s DHHS cuts
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage has acknowledged that his proposed reduction of the state’s safety net will challenge the political will of state lawmakers. That may be an understatement. One day after the governor revealed his plan to cut $220 million from the state’s Medicaid program, resistance from affected stakeholders continued to gather, setting the […]
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‘It will have a real impact’: LePage announces sweeping changes to MaineCare
AUGUSTA — The LePage administration on Tuesday unveiled a plan that could lead to sweeping structural changes in the state’s Medicaid program while ending health care coverage for 65,000 people currently receiving it. Gov. Paul LePage’s plan is designed to plug a new $120 million shortfall in the budget of the Department of Health and […]
Posted inOur View
An evaluation of public benefits, private insurance
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services is facing a $120 million deficit, a gaping and largely unanticipated financial hole that must be filled if taxpayers hope to avoid funding yet another supplemental budget for this agency. According to DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew, the agency is now going through a thorough review to restructure and […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Gov. LePage says state can no longer afford to insure childless adults
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage is expected to unveil a plan this week to close a $120 million deficit in the budget for the state Department of Health and Human Services. While details of the plan have yet to be revealed, LePage said during his weekly radio address Saturday that the state can […]
Posted inBusiness, Maine, sj-web
LePage: New Maine team to help ‘job creators’
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage says a new team has been assembled to improve the state’s business climate and help Maine businesses survive and grow. The governor’s newly formed team of account executives is now up and running in the Department of Economic and Community Development. Commissioner George Gervais says the team of […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine delegation asks for disaster declaration
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s congressional delegation is supporting Gov. Paul LePage’s request seeking a federal fisheries disaster declaration to provide aid to Maine’s groundfishing fleet. LePage on Tuesday said he sent a letter to Commerce Secretary John Bryson calling for a federal fisheries disaster declaration for Maine’s fleet. His request followed a recent report […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage touts needs of Maine businesses
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine Gov. Paul LePage says the key to economic prosperity is to allow private businesses a chance to succeed. In his weekly radio address Saturday, LePage says he has heard from hundreds of business leaders at job creation workshops held this fall. LePage says business leaders are telling him the state […]
Posted inMaine
Oil dealers urge LePage not to pick ‘winners and losers’ in setting energy policy
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage’s plans to reduce Mainers’ reliance on heating oil and expand natural gas is creating push-back from the state’s consortium of oil dealers. The Maine Energy Marketers Association, formerly known as the Maine Oil Dealers Association, recently met with the governor to discuss his suggestion that the state could back natural […]
Posted inMaine
LePage reiterates education overhaul to improve business growth
AUBURN — Gov. Paul LePage’s third and final job-creation forum continued a familiar refrain at Central Maine Community College on Thursday: Maine businesses have jobs. What they don’t have is qualified applicants. The governor also expounded on his remarks from a previous forum during which he suggested that municipalities with strict regulations on business could […]