BREWER — Maine is the fourth state in the nation to have an official crustacean, thanks to the dedication of a group of 8- and 9-year-olds from Brewer Community School. Maine Gov. Paul LePage traveled to the school Monday morning to sign into law the bill that made the American lobster the official crustacean of […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Supreme Court upholds population-based electoral districts
WASHINGTON — A unanimous Supreme Court ruled Monday that states can count everyone, not just eligible voters, in deciding how to draw electoral districts. The justices turned back a challenge from Texas voters that could have dramatically altered political district boundaries and disproportionately affected the nation’s growing Latino population. The court ruled that Texas’ challenged […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine Senate delays votes until Susan Deschambault seated
AUGUSTA — The Republican-controlled Maine Senate is refusing to hold roll call votes until Gov. Paul LePage swears in the Democrat who won last Tuesday’s special election for a vacant Senate seat. A spokesman for Senate President Mike Thibodeau, a Republican, said that Thibodeau has agreed to not hold votes for controversial bills until Sen.-elect […]
Posted inLivermore Falls Advertiser, Maine
Bill to bring back Maine presidential primary gets thumbs up
AUGUSTA — A March statewide presidential primary vote could be in the works for Maine in 2020, if the next Legislature elected in November can figure out a way to pay for it. Lawmakers on the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee voted 12-0 Monday to approve a bill that would send voters to the polls […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Hundreds pack hearing on proposed mental health care changes
AUGUSTA — More than 300 people from across Maine came to the State House on Friday to decry changes proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services for Mainers with severe mental illnesses. The hearing before the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee was broadcast in a total of five committee rooms in the […]
Posted inMaine
Logjam on funding for veterans bills breaks in Maine House
AUGUSTA — A quiver of bills meant to better assist Maine veterans as well as cover University of Maine and community college tuition costs for members of the state’s National Guard gained unanimous approval Friday in state House of Representatives. The legislation, much of it a result or recommendations from a special commission that examined […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Gov. Paul LePage delays swearing in Democratic senator
Gov. Paul LePage’s office said Friday morning that the governor will not swear in a new Democratic Senator who won a special election for a Biddeford-area Senate seat earlier this week. Mario Moretto, a spokesman for the Senate, said Susan Deschambeault, who won the Senate District 32 seat on Tuesday in a special election, has […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Legislative panel rejects LePage nominee for unemployment commission
UPDATE: Gov. Paul LePage delays swearing in Democratic senator AUGUSTA — Legislative Democrats and one independent scuttled Gov. Paul LePage’s nominee to a state unemployment appeals board on Thursday, prompting an angry response from the administration. In a party-line vote, the Maine Legislature’s labor committee voted 7-6 against South Portland police Detective Sgt. Steven Webster’s nomination […]
Posted inMaine
Committee splits on pay increase for Maine governors
AUGUSTA — Proposals by Republican Gov. Paul LePage to hike the salary of the next governor to $150,000 a year, increase pay for lawmakers and reduce members of the Legislature appeared poised for defeat Thursday. Lawmakers on the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee split along party lines in a 5-5 vote after unanimously voting […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Eight Dems support Gov. Paul LePage’s anti-monument bill
AUGUSTA — Rural Democrats in the Maine House of Representatives broke ranks on Thursday to narrowly endorse Gov. Paul LePage’s bid to block the president’s authority to designate a national monument in the North Woods region. The bill is likely to face constitutional challenges and is a largely symbolic missive toward the family of Roxanne […]