AUGUSTA – Auburn state Rep. Deborah Simpson stood in a crowd of people showing their support for three domestic violence issues Thursday at the State House.

As a survivor of domestic violence, when she got up to speak at the news conference she called it something else.

“Domestic violence. We hear the words over and over again,” said Simpson, a Democrat. “This is about domestic terrorism.”

State lawmakers filled a staircase during the news conference to show their support for three bills to prosecute and prevent domestic violence.

“We are here in numbers today,” Senate President Beth Edmonds said, “because ultimately, we’ve had enough.”

The three bills proposed would are expected to be printed soon. The first formally establishes domestic assault as a Class D misdemeanor, instead of Class E.

The second requests funding to provide intervention and prevention services, and the third seeks to change the way police evaluate domestic violence cases to determine who is the predominant aggressor.

“People are living in their homes, afraid for their safety, afraid to stay and afraid to leave,” Simpson said.

One in four Mainers are affected by domestic violence, Edmonds said.

“If one in four Mainers were having their car stolen, we would have marshal law,” she said.

Attorney General Steven Rowe said the state is making headway, and having these bills will help.

“In my office, half of the homicides are domestic violence,” he said. “It’s costing the state more than a billion (dollars) a year.”

Domestic violence survivor Shannon Hersey of Harpswell told her story, about her dog being killed and her family being threatened.

“You look at the minute; these domestic violence attacks are not a snapshot, they’re a lifestyle,” she said.

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