Each year, migrant farmworkers come to Maine from places as far away as Jamaica and Mexico and, along with the farmworkers already in the state, harvest iconic crops like blueberries. But as the coronavirus pandemic continues, advocates worry that farmworkers could be particularly vulnerable to the virus due to the nature of their work and…
Members of the Maine legislature’s Judiciary Committee voted six-to-one on Thursday to approve an amended version of an omnibus bill that will make 22 state law changes recommended by the Maine Indian Land Claims Task Force in January. The bill, LD 2094, now heads to the full legislature for a vote if and when the…
The Maine People’s Alliance’s 2019 legislative scorecard launched online Tuesday, with 38 legislators earning perfect scores for advancing progressive values with votes they made during the first session of the 129th legislature. In an email announcing the scorecard’s launch, MPA co-director Amy Halsted said it is a “chance to make clear how our state lawmakers voted on some…
Maine health care advocates and lawmakers took part in rallies in Portland and Bangor on Monday to call attention to the threat posed by Texas v. United States, the Republican lawsuit that could overturn the Affordable Care Act and leave almost 90,000 Mainers uninsured. The events, which were part of Protect Our Care’s nationwide Health…
Despite having the highest rate of Black poverty in the country, as well as Black and Indigenous unemployment rates that are double the state average, Maine’s state lawmakers have never tasked any official body with understanding why those racial and ethnic disparities persist. State Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Portland) intends to target this unaddressed legacy…
Maine lawmakers are seeking to amend a controversial part of Janet Mills’ proposed budget. On Tuesday, the Taxation Committee held public hearings on a series of bills to address the underfunding of municipalities through continued cuts to state revenue sharing. “I think we need to prioritize things that are not optional. What’s happening in our…
This week on the Beacon Podcast, Taryn interviews employment and civil rights lawyer Valerie Wicks on two bills to protect Mainers from forced arbitration. She explains how many people don’t realize they’ve signed away their rights to a court process if they’re wronged by their employer. Also: The case for overdose prevention sites to confront…
At a public hearing in Augusta on Wednesday, several commercial farm owners spoke in opposition to a bill that would give Maine’s agricultural workers greater protection under the state’s wage and hour laws. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Thom Harnett (D-Gardiner), said that he was motivated to introduce the legislation in an attempt to address…
This week on the Beacon podcast, we spotlight three bills currently before the Maine legislature that you might not have heard about, but which could make a significant positive difference in Mainers’ lives and need your help to pass. Rep. Thom Harnett discusses LD 1211 and LD 1251, which would give farm workers the right…