Look, I don’t want to berate political figures on their way out the door, but it turns out Rep. Jared Golden wasn’t just placating his right flank to win re-election over the past six years. It now appears that the Democrat actually agrees with the direction Trump and MAGA are taking the country. Despite having…
Our state legislative session is reaching its crunch time, with furious negotiations taking place, floor votes coming up, and stakes getting higher for bills that have made it this far. Thankfully there is still time to address income inequality. Especially in regard to state employees and those who are retired. If you want to look…
A Maine lawmaker has submitted a proposal for a public health insurance option in Maine, a government-run health insurance plan that competes with private insurance on the market. The proposal, submitted by Sen. Joe Baldacci, a Democrat representing Bangor, is one of nearly 300 bill titles proposed for next year’s legislative session. The Democratically-controlled Legislative…
Sen. Joe Baldacci of Bangor is calling for law enforcement to crack down on a known neo-Nazi’s plans to develop a white supremacist training camp and community in northern Maine. Last year, former U.S. Marine Christopher Pohlhaus, leader of the neo-Nazi “Blood Tribe” who previously resided in San Antonio, Texas, began inviting his members to…
On any given day during the legislative session, the corridors of the Maine State House are filled with professional lobbyists who often convey a confident familiarity with the lawmakers they are trying to sway to their side of an issue. For Peruvian asylum seekers Milagros and her 23-year-old son Rodrigo this was unfamiliar territory. Competing…
The Maine Senate voted 18-14 Wednesday night to kill a bill that advocates say would have begun to move Maine away from decades of failed, punitive “War on Drugs” policies by decriminalizing possession of scheduled drugs and making it a civil violation. Senate President Troy Jackson of Aroostook County, Sen. Ned Claxton of Androscoggin, a…
Lawmakers in the Maine Legislature heard testimony Tuesday on bills that would require the wealthy to pay a more equitable share in taxes by creating a new income bracket and establishing a surcharge on high levels of money made from capital gains and dividends. The legislation comes as research has shown that economic inequality has…
This story was updated after the PUC responded to lawmakers. Over 70 state lawmakers have signed onto a letter sent to the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) urging that a moratorium on power disconnections enacted in March but ended in November be reinstated. However, in a response to the legislators sent Wednesday morning, the PUC…
Evan Popp contributed to this report. Democrats will keep their majorities in both chambers of the Maine Legislature, gaining ground in the state Senate but losing some seats in the state House. In the state Senate, Democrats scored a big win, with state Rep. Chloe Maxmin defeating District 13 incumbent Republican Senate leader Dana Dow…
With just less than 100 days to go before the November election, the Maine People’s Alliance (of which Beacon is a project) has endorsed dozens of candidates for seats in the Maine House and Senate, through their Campaign Vote! initiative, who they hope will help advance economic and social justice in the halls of power.…