AUGUSTA — A status report about an investigation into whether Gov. Paul LePage acted illegally or unethically by threatening to withhold taxpayer funding from Good Will-Hinckley unless it fired Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves will wait until September. Beth Ashcroft, director of the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, told the Legislature’s Government Oversight […]
politics
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Paul LePage asks Maine Supreme Court to rule on vetoes, adjournment
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage has asked the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to arbitrate his dispute with the Legislature about whether 65 bills have become law. The request, made Friday, follows recent controversy over dozens of bills lawmakers and most independent legal authorities — including Attorney General Janet Mills — say have become law because […]
advertisement
Posted inMaine
Whimper, not bang, ends 2015 Maine lawmaking session
Happy clapping Maine Senate. Posted by Scott Thistle on Thursday, July 16, 2015 AUGUSTA — An often tumultuous first half of the 127th Maine legislative session came to a nondramatic close Thursday more than six months after it started — making it one of the longest in recent state history. Beyond a smattering of official […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Legislature rejects vetoes of 65 bills slated to become law
It was the latest development in a bizarre dispute that has enveloped Augusta for a week. LePage held 71 bills for longer than the 10 days normally afforded him to veto legislation, prompting many lawmakers and the state’s attorney general to declare the bills had become law without the governor’s signature. On Thursday, LePage delivered […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine Legislature: House sustains veto of LMF bond bill
UPDATED 2:12 P.M.: AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine lawmakers have sustained Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill that sought to force him to release voter-approved bonds. The House voted 91-52 on Thursday, falling several votes short of the two-thirds support needed to overturn LePage’s veto. The Republican-led Senate supported overriding the veto with a […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Former Collins staffers start group for moderate Republicans
Two former staffers for U.S. Sen. Susan Collins have launched a group aimed to breathe new life into a moderate, stately Republican tradition that they say has been sidelined in recent years by the more hard-line, confrontational political style embodied by Gov. Paul LePage. The group is called Get Right Maine, and it’s largely a two-man operation, […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Portland to continue debate on raising minimum wage
PORTLAND — The debate over pay will be waged again Monday, July 20, when the City Council will hold a public hearing on a “livable wage” ordinance. The council will choose between enacting an ordinance creating a $15 per hour minimum wage, sending the ordinance to the polls in November, or placing a competing measure […]
Posted inMaine
Land for Maine’s Future bonds put Jonathan LaBonte in tough spot
AUGUSTA — Auburn Mayor Jonathan LaBonte, former executive director of the Androscoggin Land Trust and a well-known supporter of land conservation, is in a seemingly tough spot these days. LaBonte, who left the land trust in 2014 to become the director of Gov. Paul LePage’s Office of Policy and Management, is now responsible for scrutinizing […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Paul LePage wants to extend bond deadline — with a catch
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage said Wednesday that he is drafting a new bill that would extend the window on the sale of $6.5 million in conservation bonds that are set to expire in November until June 2016. The governor said in a meeting with reporters that he hopes he and the Legislature can use […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine Legislature to end session with a light day
AUGUSTA — Maine lawmakers had been bracing for a busy final day in Augusta dedicated to trying to override Gov. Paul LePage’s vetoes. But their to-do list when they return Thursday will be much shorter than they had expected. Dozens of bills that they had anticipated that LePage would veto are now the subject of […]