With the harvest season underway in Maine, farmworkers are once again toiling under conditions that differ dramatically from the labor standards others enjoy on the job. By this time next year, though, that may change — at least somewhat — as momentum is building to reform a major aspect of Maine’s two-tiered labor system. This […]| Maine Morning Star
There is a proposal before the Maine Legislature that would create a constitutional amendment to protect reproductive autonomy, which those who testified both for and against have largely positioned as a means to enshrine the right to abortion in the state Constitution. But it would also protect other aspects of reproductive autonomy, such as the […]| Maine Morning Star
Mainers packed the Judiciary Committee room and spilled into the hallways of the State House in Augusta on Monday to share their thoughts on a proposal to enshrine the right to abortion in the Maine State Constitution.| Maine Morning Star
The Maine Legislature passed a bill that extends tribal authority to prosecute more serious offenses committed on tribal territory by tribal members.| Maine Morning Star
Editor’s note: This five-day series explores the priorities of voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as they consider the upcoming presidential election. With the outcome expected to be close, these “swing states” may decide the future of the country. As former President Donald Trump worked to scuttle a bipartisan border […]| Maine Morning Star
Stefani Goerlich, a certified sex therapist and social worker with a private practice in Detroit, sees several dozen clients a month, most of them from underserved and minority backgrounds. She speaks to them about sensitive matters such as gender-affirming care, and building trust takes time. Those hard-won relationships often are upended when clients move away […]| Maine Morning Star
Gov. Janet Mills on Monday gave final approval to the gun safety measures that would become law after the state’s worst mass shooting. Of the three reforms that passed the Maine Legislature, only two will become law. On Monday, Mills said she is allowing a 72-hour waiting period for certain gun purchases to become law […]| Maine Morning Star
The Maine Legislature approved a supplemental state budget at nearly 3 a.m. Thursday morning that includes storm relief Gov. Janet Mills had previously proposed to be funded outside the budget process. The governor wrote in a letter to legislators Wednesday morning, before the storm relief was tacked on, that she would approve the budget plan. […]| Maine Morning Star
Of the many proposed gun safety reforms introduced in the aftermath of Maine’s deadliest mass shooting last fall, several are headed to Gov. Janet Mills’ desk for her signature.| Maine Morning Star
At its second meeting, the Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston interviewed officers from the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department for almost six hours about their involvement with Robert Card before he killed 18 people on Oct. 25. At the start of the meeting, Daniel Wathen, chair of the commission, said […]| Maine Morning Star
Gov. Janet Mills signed an executive order Thursday to create an independent commission of seven experts to investigate the facts of the Oct. 25 mass shooting in Lewiston and the months leading up to the tragedy. Along with Attorney General Aaron Frey, Mills appointed legal, investigative and mental health experts to serve on the commission, […]| Maine Morning Star
Maine farmers can access dedicated one-on-one assistance to manage the impacts of harmful forever chemicals on their farm thanks to a new program that launched Monday. The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry established the PFAS Navigator program with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension to provide resources and guidance to farmers coping with the […]| Maine Morning Star
A union representing Maine government workers filed charges Wednesday alleging that the Mills administration has failed to bargain in good faith — the latest escalation in a long-running dispute over state worker wages. The Maine Service Employees Association, which represents over 13,000 workers, filed the complaint against the state with the Maine Labor Relations Board. […]| Maine Morning Star
Maine’s state government and the union representing state employees are at odds over how much they say government workers are paid in relation to the private sector — an ongoing debate following the conclusion of months-long contract negotiations in December.| Maine Morning Star
The Maine Legislature adjourned last week without taking action on a bill that would have created mandated nurse-to-patient ratios in certain health care settings.| Maine Morning Star
Gov. Janet Mills is allowing Maine to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, but she’s not putting her signature on the legislation. Mills had 10 days after the Legislature gave its approval of the bill to decide if she was going to sign the bill, veto it or allow it to become law without […]| Maine Morning Star
If signed, Maine would become the 17th state to ratify the agreement, giving the compact 209 of the 270 electoral votes needed for enactment.| Maine Morning Star
Though for different reasons, policy organizations on both sides of the aisle are not supportive of Gov. Janet Mills’ proposal to save $107 million in a new reserve for the next biennium. Conservatives would prefer to see the excess revenue used to reduce taxes. Progressives argue the excess funds should be put toward programs that […]| Maine Morning Star
Lawmakers and advocates praised action taken by the Maine Legislature to pass and fund a bill creating a sustainable revenue source for the more than 20 recovery community centers in the state.| Maine Morning Star
Maine saw a reduction in the number of overdose deaths in 2023. But with hundreds upon hundreds of drug-related deaths last year, advocates and lawmakers say the state is still in the midst of a serious crisis.| Maine Morning Star
Criminalizing the disease of addiction is not the answer, supporters of LD 1975 argued at a Jan. 17 public hearing, and is instead exacerbating the problem and taking resources away from potential public health-based solutions.| Maine Morning Star
The Portland City Council is considering putting a higher minimum wage and eliminating the tipped wage on the ballot in November.| Maine Morning Star
Maine Community College students are now guaranteed admission to at least one of the state’s public universities after they finish their associate degree.| Maine Morning Star
When Alex Morin found out about the animal care and management degree at York County Community College in Wells, Morin studied the syllabus, digging into each class and the career opportunities projected to follow. “I know the kind of genre of what I want to do, but I don’t know exactly,” Morin said of their […]| Maine Morning Star
President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race Sunday, he said in a letter posted to social media, creating an unprecedented vacancy atop the Democratic ticket one month before he was scheduled to officially accept his party’s nomination. In a followup post less than 30 minutes later, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris […]| Maine Morning Star
More research into ways to reduce forever chemicals in the food supply will be conducted in Maine through millions of dollars in grant funding awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week.| Maine Morning Star
Portland’s city council adopted a resolution Wednesday night urging the city to divest from companies doing business with Israel in response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.| Maine Morning Star
The Brunswick town council formally called on the state and the development authority that oversees Brunswick Executive Airport on Tuesday night to remove all forever chemical-laden firefighting foam from the premises after an accidental discharge last month. On Aug. 19, the fire suppression system in hangar four went off, discharging more than a thousand gallons […]| Maine Morning Star
The FDA has approved an updated covid shot for everyone 6 months old and up.| Maine Morning Star
Union members and other Maine workers can celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers this Labor Day at several events across the state this weekend.| Maine Morning Star
Texas and 15 states Friday filed a suit in federal court to block the Biden administration’s program that protects long-term undocumented people married to U.S. citizens from deportation and grants them a pathway to citizenship.| Maine Morning Star
Even before 1,600 gallons of foam containing forever chemicals spilled at the Brunswick airport on Monday, the previous use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, at the site has made the water in the area a hazard. On Friday, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued new freshwater fish consumption […]| Maine Morning Star
A new University of New Hampshire poll asked Mainers questions on a myriad of topics including the National Popular Vote Compact, how Maine awards its electoral votes and how they feel about Gov. Janet Mills’ job performance.| Maine Morning Star
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine intended to address severe symptoms of the virus ahead of the cold and flu season. The new booster shots from Moderna and Pfizer follow a summer of increasing COVID-19 cases and are designed to better address the variants that are circulating now. […]| Maine Morning Star
Maine voters overall are indicating increasing support for Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump for the upcoming presidential election| Maine Morning Star
Workers in some states have seen sharply higher earnings since the pandemic , especially in scenic areas that are appealing to remote workers and have labor shortages.| Maine Morning Star
An unintentional discharge of firefighting foam containing high levels of toxic forever chemicals at the Brunswick Executive Airport on Monday has prompted state legislators to call on the governor to immediately overhaul how the state handles this material, which is housed at military bases and fire departments across the state. “This is like a ‘Silent […]| Maine Morning Star
Maine has been going in circles trying to pass labor safeguards for agricultural workers who are excluded from protections under state law regarding overtime, rest breaks and minimum wage. A fight that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris similarly took up in 2018 when she was a senator for California. Her work on the issue is […]| Maine Morning Star
Maine has seen a marked increase in new voter registrations since President Joe Biden dropped out of the upcoming presidential race on July 21 and subsequently endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, with particular spikes in the two weeks immediately following. According to statewide voter registration numbers provided by the Maine Secretary of State’s Office, 3,793 […]| Maine Morning Star
“It pains me greatly to hear so much negativity about Katahdin,” said Rep. Kathy Javner (R-Chester), at a Health and Human Services Committee meeting at the end of January. The disdain Javner was referring to had nothing to do with the beloved mountain in her home district, but rather the child welfare database used by […]| Maine Morning Star
Republican legislators are accused of spreading disinformation about a bill designed to protect Maine health professionals who provide reproductive and gender-affirming care from being targeted by other states’ bans or restrictions on such treatments.| Maine Morning Star
Among the proposals that have gotten traction is a bill that would create a pilot project to recruit and retain case aides for the Office of Child and Family Services, particularly in districts that need the most support.| Maine Morning Star
A proposal to create a dedicated Civil Rights Unit within the Office of the Attorney General passed the Legislature this week.| Maine Morning Star
The Maine Legislature passed a bill to create an African American and Wabanaki Studies advisory council, which would be tasked with ensuring that the courses of study — already required under Maine law — are effectively implemented in schools. The proposal, from Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Portland), passed the Senate with a 24-9 vote Tuesday […]| Maine Morning Star
The Maine Legislature will return to wrap up session this week, but the governor and legislative leadership are not on the same page about what actions should be taken.| Maine Morning Star
Shortly before the sun rose the day after the Maine Legislature’s adjournment deadline, both chambers passed state budget changes, which Gov. Janet Mills signed on Monday. However, more than a hundred pieces of legislation still remain in limbo. Among these unresolved items include bills aimed at expanding workers’ rights, such as requiring minimum pay for […]| Maine Morning Star
The third attempt at sweeping reform of the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act has once again languished. However, the Maine House of Representatives this week passed a narrowed proposal that could still be the most substantive change since enactment of the Act that has left the Wabanaki Nations with a status more akin to […]| Maine Morning Star
The Maine Legislature passed a bill on Wednesday to create an Office of Tribal-State Affairs, aimed to streamline the certification of laws that apply to the Tribes.| Maine Morning Star
At least 16 places in Maine have names that include racial or ethnic slurs, although by law many were supposed to be eradicated decades ago, according to ongoing research by the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Tribal Populations. In 1977, Maine’s first Black state legislator Gerald Talbot sponsored a bill that […]| Maine Morning Star
The combined proposal would establish an advisory council and content specialist position dedicated to both African American and Wabanaki studies, as well as provide one-time funding to expand both curricula.| Maine Morning Star
has a projected financial deficit of approximately $8.6 million over the next three years| Maine Morning Star
For the few ways a bill can become law, there are many more ways legislation can be killed. Sometimes the path to a bill’s demise is clear. Maybe it gets votes out of a legislative committee with members suggesting its passage, but it doesn’t secure enough votes in either the Maine House of Representatives or […]| Maine Morning Star
Another attempt to give farmworkers in Maine the right to minimum wage has failed after Gov. Janet Mills vetoed her own bill.| Maine Morning Star
Workers and union representatives spoke in favor of bills Tuesday to deter anti-union activities in publicly-funded infrastructure projects and create a more streamlined process for recovering stolen wages. The first bill, LD 373, would require a bidder to agree to a labor harmony agreement if a clean energy, broadband or transportation project involves public funds […]| Maine Morning Star
Water tests show nearly 3,000 private wells located near 63 active and former U.S. military bases are contaminated with “forever chemicals” at levels higher than what federal regulators consider safe for drinking. According to the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that analyzed Department of Defense testing data, 2,805 wells spread across 29 states […]| Maine Morning Star
For Maine Republicans, calls for unity following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump mean an end to doomsday rhetoric surrounding another Trump presidency.| Maine Morning Star
Despite former President Donald Trump’s denial of any connection to the conservative presidential transition plan known as Project 2025, the initiative’s driver, the Heritage Foundation, promoted the platform mere blocks from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, attracting officials and personalities from the party’s most conservative wing. The project has taken heat from Democrats in […]| Maine Morning Star
Marking the two year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, Maine Gov. Janet Mills joined state lawmakers and reproductive rights advocates to mobilize voters ahead of the November election.| Maine Morning Star
The 2024 presidential election is a battle for the soul of America, said U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. For Maine Gov. Janet Mills, it’s a choice between compassion or chaos, decency or denigration. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said the country has to keep President Joe Biden in the White House, “otherwise all is lost.” Federal, […]| Maine Morning Star
Originally, the bill brought forth by Rep. Vicki Doudera (D-Camden) sought to create a voluntary process for a person to waive their right to purchase a firearm with the hope of preventing suicides.| Maine Morning Star
