On Monday, Sen. Bruce Bryant, D-Dixfield, asked the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee to consider his bill to give Iraq war veterans a free one-year pass to state parks and free hunting and fishing licenses.

It’s a small way of thanking the soldiers, Bryant said.

Freshman Rep. Mark Bryant, D-Windham, agreed. Percentage-wise, Maine has sent a high number of soldiers to Iraq. As the veterans make the transition back to life in Maine, they’ll need recreation time with their families, he testified. Regardless of whether one agrees with the Iraq war, veterans need to be thanked, he said.

The two lawmakers have more in common than their thinking: Sen. Bryant and Rep. Bryant are brothers.

They grew up in Canton in a family of 12: seven boys, three girls and two parents. “I don’t know how my parents did it,” Mark said.

At age 43, Bruce is the younger one. Asked how old his brother was, Bruce guessed 50.

“I’m 48,” Mark said. When told his brother said he was 50, Mark suggested Bruce’s age be boosted by two years.

Looking at them, one may not guess they’re brothers, but naturally they have many similarities.

They grew up in a family of mostly Republicans, but both became Democrats. Both work, or used to work, at paper mills.

Both are the parents of three.

“He has three boys, I have three girls,” Bruce said.

Both are interested in Maine’s outdoors, and hunt.

Bruce described his brother as more organized. “He gets the job done. I’m more relaxed, and not so organized.” No doubt that comes from his being a kind of middle child. He’s the sixth born, Mark is the third.

Calling themselves “The Bryant Brothers,” the two plan to work together in more endeavors. Mark will enlist Bruce’s help when he introduces a bill to ban a device that allows users to essentially inhale an alcoholic drink by converting the alcohol into a mist. Mark considers the device dangerous.

Brotherly love will help get things done, Bruce said. “It’s a good fit, with one in the House and one in the Senate. We can help each other.”

That’s not necessarily the case for the other set of siblings in the Legislature: Sen. Peter Mills, R-Skowhegan, and Rep. Janet Mills, D-Farmington, both lawyers. Sibling rivalry, not brotherly love, would be a better way to describe their relationship, as their votes often reflect their different party affiliations.

Plowing for Easter?

David Connerty-Marin looked out his fourth-floor State House window last Tuesday and Wednesday in puzzlement.

Why were crews removing snow from the Blaine House lawn, wondered Connerty-Marin, communications director for the speaker of the House.

The answer: Snow was being hauled away for next Saturday’s Blaine House Easter egg hunt, explained first lady Karen Baldacci.

This year is the first time in a while that snow had to be being removed from the lawn for Easter, she said. But with Easter early, and with 30 inches of snow on the lawn, it would not be safe for young ones to trudge through it searching for eggs. (Given the governor’s broken ribs – from slipping on Blaine House ice last month – safety is a high priority in the household.)

The egg hunt is an invitation-only event. The hunters will be pre-schoolers and kindergarten students from St. Mary’s School, where the Baldaccis’ son, Jack, is in the eighth grade.

Quote of the week: “You don’t hear people asking if someone has the Pepsi’ to perform a difficult task, or being described as full of milk’ or Poland Spring’ if they are high-spirited and determined.”

– Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, testifying in favor of making Moxie the official Maine soft drink.

– Bonnie Washuk is a Sun Journal State House reporter.

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