Whether you’re a connoisseur or critic of televised political ads, it’s about to get a lot easier to find out who’s buying them and how much they paid.  Beginning July 1, television stations will have to post political ad buy information at a designated Federal Communications Commission website, according to an April 4 public notice […]

The Maine Republican Party convention will have some star power when it convenes later this month. Rand Paul, a presumed 2016 presidential candidate, will address the convention on April 26 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Paul’s visit is a win-win for the party and the Kentucky senator. For the party, his appearance marks […]

For the past several weeks Democratic lawmakers have put up rigorous opposition to Gov. Paul LePage’s slate of welfare reform proposals. However, there’s growing speculation that some Democrats are working on a compromise on at least one of the governor’s proposals. That bill, L.D. 1822, could come up for a vote in the House Thursday. […]

It’s not every day that the ambassador of Liechtenstein — her name is Claudia Fritsche — writes a letter to the Maine Legislature to weigh in on a bill. But it happened March 4, when Fritsche urged state lawmakers to vote down L.D. 1120, a bill that would prohibit multinational corporations from using so-called offshore […]

Reposting this story with some of the context that was cut in order to fit the story in the newspaper. Click here for for the abbreviated version. – S.M. A last-minute amendment backed by the National Rifle Association threatens to derail a bipartisan bill to overhaul the state’s concealed-weapon permit law, in a move criticized […]

Wednesday whirlwind: With April 16 adjournment fast approaching, the Legislature is ramping up its activities. Paper is moving. Votes are being taken. Everyone wants to go home. Wednesday marks another double session day, as the House and Senate convene to take additional votes on a variety of proposals, including a proposal that would suspend state grants […]

Gov. Paul LePage on Monday reiterated his support for health commissioner Mary Mayhew, calling her a "superstar" in his administration. LePage’s comments were delivered during a press conference to unveil his slate of welfare reform bills. Mayhew has been under fire amid a series of rolling controversies at the DHHS and the Maine Center for Disease […]

Gov. Paul LePage has recently made several public statements in which he’s accused his political foes of spreading falsehoods.  Now, as the governor ramps up his reelection bid, he wants the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices to investigate erroneous campaign claims if a candidate for statewide office files a complaint. LePage has […]

We’ve heard that the 2014 election will break a lot of spending records in Maine.  Exhibit A: On Feb. 24, USW Works, a super PAC for the United Steelworkers union, gave $300,000 to the Maine Democratic Party, according to filings with Federal Elections Commission (H/T to the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, which spotted it […]

Not a big fan of the headline that poses a question followed by a blog post that doesn’t answer it, but in this case, an exception. On Friday, Sharon Leahy-Lind, the former official at the Center of Disease Control, told a legislative panel that her supervisors told her not to use state email to communicate […]