Legislative Republicans are establishing a trend: They’ll sustain Gov. Paul LePage’s vetoes, even if it means defeating measures they’ve previously supported, in some cases unanimously.  The latest example happened Wednesday when Republicans in the House backed LePage’s rejection of L.D. 387, a bill that would study how the Department of Health and Human Services and […]

Veto watch: Republican lawmakers will be on the hot seat once again this week when the Democratic-led Legislature attempts to override Gov. Paul LePage’s sixth veto of the session.  The governor on Friday vetoed L.D. 319, an e-fairness bill that directs Maine Revenue Services to determine if the state conforms with an agreement among other states […]

Addendum: A couple of footnotes to Friday’s story on the tax reform bill that will have a public hearing in the Taxation Committee.  One criticism of the plan that’s not included in Press Herald breakdown is that many are questioning whether it’s possible to determine the effects of exporting the tax burden from residents to non-residents. […]

Medicaid melee: With the thumbs-up from their progressive allies, Democratic legislative leaders reiterated Monday their pitch to tie paying back Maine’s hospitals with the expansion of low-income health insurance.  Democratic leaders issued a press statement calling on LePage “to stop making excuses for denying health care to thousands of Maine people.”   “Governor LePage continues […]

Maine House Speaker Rep. Mark Eves, D-North Berwick, reiterated his skepticism of Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed commission to review the state’s unemployment compensation system. The governor announced that he planned to launch the bipartisan commission last week. The move came as LePage and his administration face allegations that the governor pressured unemployment appeals hearing officers […]

Don’t know GMO: The first sign that a big debate was brewing over LD 718 came Feb. 26. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Lance Harvell, R-Farmington, would require food retailers to notify customers if food products were borne from genetically modified seeds or ingredients. The proposal could have implications for farm stands, too. With a list […]

The WGAN 560 Morning Show hosts Mike Violette and Ken Altshuler received a full dose of the unemployment hearing officers controversy Monday morning.  The focus of the discussion, which can be heard here, was the Maine Sunday Telegram data dive into the LePage administration’s claim that the appeals system is broken, inconsistent and unfair. The […]

Roll it back? One of the more heated debates of the last legislative session could resurface today when Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, presents his bill to change the state’s workers compensation law.  Jackson’s bill, LD 443, is a concept draft, but Republicans are preparing for a rollback of changes they pushed through when they held the […]

Gov. Paul LePage on Monday signed 10 bills into law. That brings the total number of bills that he’s signed this session to 13. LePage has so far vetoed three bills, including one that would prohibit teens under age 18 from using a commericial indoor tanning booth.  The governor has allowed at least seven bills […]

Tan tax: It wasn’t mentioned during the floor debates over a bill that would have prohibited people under age 17 from using an indoor tanning booth, but the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, assesses a 10 percent tax on tanning services.  The provision was enacted in 2010 and is one of several so-called “sin taxes” that Congress […]