AUGUSTA — Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration has the green light to begin drug testing some welfare applicants. A spokesman for Attorney General Janet Mills said Tuesday that her office has given final approval to the governor’s proposed rule and submitted it to the secretary of state’s office. Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
What you need to know about the 2015 budget
AUGUSTA — Friday’s late afternoon release of Gov. Paul LePage’s biennial budget proposal didn’t leave lawmakers or reporters much time to digest the contents of the document, which spans hundreds of pages. More details will emerge in the coming days, along with plaudits and criticisms from the constituencies that LePage’s ideas will help or hurt. […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage says his tax overhaul is different from the 2009 effort
AUGUSTA — Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s plan to overhaul Maine’s tax code could put some GOP lawmakers in the tough position of having to throw their support behind an idea they once opposed — and used to attack Democrats in order to get elected. But LePage is trying to make the case that his proposal […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage unveils transportation improvement plan
That’s 523 capital improvement projects this year throughout the state, according to the Maine Department of Transportation. LePage and Department of Transportation Commissioner David Bernhardt revealed the work plan Monday at a news conference at a Department of Transportation maintenance facility in Augusta. The work plan also was posted on the Department of Transportation website. […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
LePage signs order that allows more oil deliveries per day
AUGUSTA — Republican Gov. Paul LePage has signed an emergency proclamation that will allow heating oil delivery trucks to stay on the road longer. The proclamation is aimed at ensuring that Mainers can get heating oil delivered to their homes and stay warm while the temperatures plunge. The order went into effect on Friday and […]
Posted inMark LaFlamme, sj-web
Street Talk: Hard Times for the First Amendment
“The Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to bare the secrets of government and inform the people… The press was to serve the governed, not the governors.” – Hugo Black, American politician and jurist. As First Amendment quotes go, this one is a beauty. The amendment itself is beauty, but […]
Posted inMaine
LePage budget plan reforms Maine tax policy
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage on Friday made good on his promise to “go after” Maine income taxes in his next two-year budget. LePage’s 2016-17 spending plan for state government includes sweeping reforms to Maine’s tax policy, dramatically changing the sources of state revenue from the income tax to a broader and higher sales tax. The […]
Posted inMaine
Democrats leery of LePage’s proposal to cut income taxes
AUGUSTA — Legislative Democrats were hesitant Thursday to embrace a proposal to eliminate Maine’s income tax, which could be a key pillar in the next budget proposal from Republican Gov. Paul LePage. LePage’s next two-year budget is due to lawmakers Friday. On Wednesday, the governor was clear that the state’s income tax was in his […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage nominates legal counsel to PUC
AUGUSTA — Maine Gov. Paul LePage has nominated his chief counsel to serve on the Maine Public Utilities Commission. LePage announced Thursday that he’s nominating Carlie McLean to take the seat that’s being vacated by PUC Chairman Thomas Welch, who resigned before his term ends in 2017. McLean worked with the Portland law firm Preti, […]
Posted inMaine
LD 1750: A study in how special interests get their way in the Legislature
The industrial wind lobby was not happy. Its plans to keep building hundreds of wind turbines in rural Maine were threatened by the LePage administration. During the summer of 2013, the Department of Environmental Protection, run by a Gov. Paul LePage appointee, had made things more difficult for wind developers by putting more requirements into […]