After two unsuccessful congressional bids, Eric Brakey is attempting a return to the Maine State House by highlighting the struggles of ordinary Mainers dealing with higher prices. He has pledged to “restore our paychecks.” But the Republican, running to reclaim his former Auburn-area Senate district, has a long record of voting to undermine working Mainers’…
On the heels of Democrats’ passage of what they are heralding as a drug price reform bill decades in the making, health care advocates, state lawmakers and impacted people in Maine met on Thursday to assess the bill and discuss what still needs to be done on both the state and federal levels to fight…
Leaders in Maine are praising the prescription drug pricing reforms included in a deal struck recently by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on a spending package Democrats hope to pass through the budget reconciliation process. While the details of the measure haven’t yet been finalized, Democrats are seeking to…
Advocates are frustrated and disappointed that a bill to restore health benefits through MaineCare to all low-income people in the state regardless of immigration status won’t be receiving a work session in a Maine legislative committee. Still, leaders of the campaign supporting the bill said they will push for the policy to be included in…
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…
Fourteen year old Leo from Waterville recently testified on a bill making its way through Maine’s legislature that would provide emergency access to insulin for Mainer’s who would otherwise go without. Leo, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age two, doesn’t remember life without diabetes. He talked about the fact that, because his…
A Republican lawmaker, who came under fire earlier this month for sending an email to an Asian American woman calling COVID-19 the ‘China virus,’ attempted to remove the word “racial” from a legislative panel set up to address racial disparities. Freshman state Rep. Michael Lemelin, a Republican from Chelsea, is a member of the legislature’s…
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). If the suit succeeds, as many as 105,000 Maine residents could lose health insurance — the highest percentage increase of uninsured in the country. The case was brought by a coalition of Republican state attorneys…
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…
Last spring, Kalie Hess wanted to know whether her state senator supported LD 798, a bill that strengthened the state’s vaccination rules. Hess, who lives in Augusta, has a masters degree in public health and reached out to state Sen. Matthew Pouliout, a Republican, because she thought he would be interested to hear what his…