AUGUSTA — This past summer, Gov. Paul LePage addressed lawmakers to evaluate the hits and misses of the legislative session. A significant failure, in the governor’s opinion, was the Legislature’s inability to lower the state’s energy costs. At the time, LePage blamed lawmakers for balking at his proposal to scrap a state mandate to increase […]
Paul LePage
Posted inMaine, Op-Eds, The Franklin Journal
Political Pulse: Progressives question motives of Americans Elect
Nuggets from the notebook while wondering why Americans Elect’s effort to get a third-party presidential candidate on the 2012 ballot seems so appealing to progressive voters . . . Americans Elect is a nonprofit organization currently trying to obtain ballot access for a yet-to-be determined bipartisan presidential ticket next year. The group is well-funded, backed […]
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Posted inMaine
LePage advances plan to remove income tax from retiree pensions
PORTLAND — Gov. Paul LePage on Thursday gave a preview of his ambitious agenda for the January legislative session, including a long-term goal to eliminate the state income tax on all retirement pensions. LePage told an audience of about 500 listeners at the Greater Portland Regional Chamber event at the Holiday Inn by the Bay […]
Posted inBusiness, Maine, sj-web
Unemployed, underemployed loggers struggling to meet with LePage
AUGUSTA, Maine — More than a month after Gov. Paul LePage said he’d happily take a call from any unemployed or underemployed northern Maine loggers, some of those loggers are finding it difficult to get the governor’s ear. A recent email exchange between a Legislative aide to Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, and the governor’s scheduler […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Gov. LePage has new take on why labor mural was removed
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage has a new explanation for why a mural depicting labor scenes was removed from a Maine state office last March. LePage told Brian Williams of NBC News that his decision to remove the artwork from the Department of Labor’s headquarters had nothing to do with the painting’s pro-labor […]
Posted inMaine
Coalition: LePage, lawmakers who repealed same-day voter law have used it themselves
AUGUSTA — The coalition seeking to restore the state’s 38-year-old, same-day voter registration law announced Tuesday that several Republican lawmakers who voted in June to repeal the law have registered on Election Day or in the period that could soon be illegal. According to the coalition Protect Maine Votes, Gov. Paul LePage also registered the […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage urges ‘bigger and bolder’ university system reforms
BANGOR, Maine — Governor Paul LePage continued his administration’s focus on public education as an economic driver with a terse letter to the University of Maine System Trustees calling for substantial reforms. The letter, which was addressed to Board Chairwoman M. Michelle Hood and distributed to the full board at its Sept. 19 meeting, applauded […]
Posted inMaine
LURC fate: Reform, abolish or return to the ’60s wildlands?
In 1969, Republican state lawmaker Harrison Richardson attempted to bring some order to Maine’s “wildlands.” Richardson, and many other political leaders, felt the handful of large corporations that owned most of Maine’s North Woods were putting profits ahead of public interest. The largest contiguous forest east of the Mississippi and the 10.4 million acres of […]
Posted inMaine
Despite ruffling feathers, Poliquin vows to remain ‘activist treasurer’
AUGUSTA — When the Republican-controlled Legislature elected Bruce Poliquin state treasurer last December, the Georgetown resident promised to spread the word about the state’s fiscal problems. The past nine months have shown that Poliquin suffers no shortage of words, or ways to deliver them. In the past, the public rarely heard from the state treasurer […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Gov proclaims Apple Sunday in Maine
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage has proclaimed today Maine Apple Sunday and is encouraging families to visit an apple orchard this weekend and throughout September. Maine has 60 apple orchards, and a listing of where they are located can be found at www.getrealmaine.com . In his proclamation, the governor says apple farms serve […]