Maine Lawmakers heard from the public on Friday over a proposed red flag law, also called an extreme risk protection order, which is aimed at empowering not just law enforcement but also family members to petition a court to restrict access to firearms for individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others. “I’m here to…
Whether you believe Maine’s yellow flag law failed us because of human error or poor design (spoiler alert, it failed by design), one thing is clear — a much less bureaucratic version would have dramatically increased the chances of stopping Robert Card from shooting 31 people in Lewiston last fall. In fact, it likely would…
Housing advocates and developers are speaking out in favor of legislation proposing a $200 million investment to increase the affordable housing stock in the state. They say that’s just the beginning of what’s needed to address Maine’s housing emergency. “We have reached a crisis point. We can’t water that down,” said Laura Mitchell, the director…
Republicans in the Maine Legislature have put forward at least seven bills targeted at curbing increases to the minimum wage or lowering the base wage for some workers, even as Mainers struggle with the increased cost of basic goods. At the same time, progressives lawmakers have introduced a series of bills to raise workers’ pay,…
Continuing a pattern of opposition to a number of progressive labor and criminal justice measures, Gov. Janet Mills late last week vetoed a bill to bar retaliation by employers against workers who use paid time off and legislation to make pretrial conditions of release less restrictive. Both vetoes were upheld by the Maine House in…
Ahead of Gov. Janet Mills’ state of the state address Thursday night and subsequent budget proposal, progressive advocates and lawmakers are urging the governor and legislature to use a historic surplus to make critically-needed investments in programs that help Mainers attain child care, housing, health care and protect the state’s environment. Going into this year’s…
When Maine passed its first-in-the-nation paid time off law in 2019, explicit protections for workers taking leave from retaliation from their employers were cut out during backroom negotiations on the bill. Now, Rep. Rebecca Millett (D-Cape Elizabeth), who sponsored the 2019 bill that as of 2021 allows employees of businesses with more than 10 workers…
“It’s a horrible system that I got caught in,” said Lewiston resident Amy Sanchez, who spent three years on a waitlist for a federal Section 8 rental assistance voucher after leaving an abusive marriage. “I was on a waitlist for forever long.” After navigating a gauntlet of means testing and twice appearing before a judge,…
Around 20,000 units. That’s the shortage of affordable housing options in Maine. That fact— combined with the 25,000 Maine households on a waitlist for federal Section 8 housing vouchers, the nearly 60% of renters in the state who spend half their income on housing, and the 5,500 evictions that happen every year — has advocates…
The Maine Legislature’s budget committee advanced a spending proposal Wednesday night for federal relief funds that includes investments in desperately-needed affordable housing and care infrastructure, along with a number of other important priorities. The Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee (AFA) voted 8-4 along party lines in favor of an amended version of a proposal put…