Despite being a proven tool against overdose deaths, people in recovery, advocates and lawmakers said at a press conference on Thursday that they know it will be a difficult path to passing their top legislative priority this session: Harm reduction health centers where people could use previously-obtained illicit drugs under medical supervision. “We did just…
Last month, Minnesota became the second state in the country to permit harm reduction health centers, also known as safe injection sites. In Maine, recovery advocates are calling on state lawmakers to follow Minnesota’s lead and save lives by allowing harm reduction health centers to be established here. The legislation in Minnesota makes that state…
Dusting off an old idea, Maine could join a list of cities and states across the country that are taking matters into their own hands to address soaring housing prices by becoming public housing developers. Democratic Rep. Grayson Lookner of Portland introduced LD 1867 to the Select Committee on Housing in a public hearing on…
In an effort to save lives amid Maine’s worsening overdose epidemic, a legislative committee earlier this week recommended passage of a bill to allow cities and towns to establish harm reduction health centers, which are sites where people can administer previously obtained drugs under medical supervision. The bill, LD 1364, sponsored by Rep. Grayson Lookner…
One major potential solution to the state’s runaway cost of housing never seems to get discussed by Maine lawmakers: Public housing. For decades, the idea of building new publicly-owned, permanently affordable housing has been off the table, even as housing prices ballooned before the Great Recession of 2008 and have now reached new heights in…
So-called crisis pregnancy centers, the faith-based institutions that push misleading information to people seeking an abortion, will be facing scrutiny this legislative session. Reproductive rights advocates characterize these centers, also known as CPCs, as fake clinics promoting an anti-abortion agenda through staff who pose as medical professionals. Rep. Grayson Lookner (D-Portland) told Beacon that he…
The beginning of the 2023 legislative session marks the return of several major proposed criminal justice measures, as advocates hope to make significant changes to the state’s drug laws while also pursuing reforms to policing and incarceration in Maine. Much of the legislation that will be considered this year is still being finalized. However, among…
A legislative campaign to track solitary confinement in Maine’s prison and jails came to an end on Tuesday when a heavily watered down bill addressing the use of isolation as punishment died due to a disagreement between the Maine House and Senate. Rep. Charlotte Warren (D-Hallowell) rose on the House floor to concede a compromise…
In a vote just after midnight on Friday morning, the legislature’s budget committee increased the income threshold for one-time checks that the state plans to send to Mainers. It’s a move that some lawmakers argue would provide money to those who don’t necessarily need it at the expense of underfunded social programs that could be…
A legislative campaign that began as an effort to ban solitary confinement in the state’s prison and jails may die after advocates say some lawmakers tried to silence investigation into a punishment the United Nations calls torture. In a vote in the Maine Senate on Tuesday, lawmakers passed a heavily amended bill that would strike…