Maine Legislature passes biennial budget, overrides Gov. LePage’s veto

Maine Legislature overrides budget veto

The Maine Senate and House overrode the Governor’s veto of the Biennial Budget for Fiscal Years 2016-2017. The budget is effective from July 1, 2015 until June 30, 2017.

The Senate overrode the veto on a vote of 25-10, and the House overrode it on a vote of 109-37.

The Legislature is expected to reconvene on July 16th to take up more anticipated vetoes.

Constitutional carry heads to Governor

In addition to considering the budget, the Senate also took up a number of items that the Appropriations Committee had voted on in recent days. Among them was LD 652, the bill to remove Maine’s permitting requirement for concealed carry. The bill achieved final enactment in the Senate on a vote of 23-12, and now heads to the Governor for consideration.

Fourth of July

The Fourth of July always spurs reflection on the sacrifices that those who lived during the Revolutionary Era made to create the nation in which we are so fortunate to now live.

Maine has some special connections to the Fourth of July, as the cornerstone of the Maine State House was laid on the Fourth of July in 1829. Additionally, a copy of the Dunlap Declaration of Independence has a home at the Maine Historical Society.

Below, from the Maine Historical Society, is the story of how that copy was created. To read the full, detailed story, go to this web site https://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/1387/page/2037/display .

When the document that came to be known as the Declaration of Independence was approved, copies were to “be sent to the several assemblies, conventions and committees, or councils of safety, and to the several commanding officers of the continental troops; that it be proclaimed in each of the United States, and at the head of the army.”

John Dunlap, official printer to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, was apparently in a hurry to get out the first printed copies of “A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress Assembled” when he set the type form in his press on the night of July 4, 1776. Dunlap got the order, the type was set, a proof drawn, corrections made. Then the revised type was set in the press, slightly askew. That is one clue to the authenticity of Dunlap Declaration broadsides. The Maine Historical Society’s copy of the Dunlap broadside, in the society’s collections since 1906, was authenticated in 1991.

State Library to host Genealogy Fair in July

The Maine State Library and the Maine Genealogical Society have partnered to host the Maine Genealogy Fair at the Maine State Library in Augusta on Saturday July 11, 2015.

Who: Maine State Library, Maine Genealogical Society and other Maine historical or genealogical organizations

What: Maine Genealogy Fair

When: Saturday, July 11, 2015, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Maine State Library/State Cultural Building, 230 State St., Augusta, Maine

The Maine Genealogy Fair is the first of its kind and will bring together a wide variety of individuals and groups engaged in ancestry research. The event is free and open to the public and complimentary table space will be provided to historical or genealogical organizations.

A panel of professional genealogists will be on-hand for a “Brickwall Busters” workshop where attendees can get expert advice on tracking down elusive ancestors. Staff from the Maine State Library and Maine State Archives will provide information on genealogy collections held by the State of Maine and the Maine State Museum will have free admission all day.

The Maine State Library is home to the largest genealogy collection north of Boston as well as town histories and published vital records for towns in Maine and a good deal of New England, materials on the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and genealogy reference materials.

To learn more about the Maine Genealogy Fair or genealogy resources at the Maine State Library, please contact Emily Schroeder at [email protected] or call 207-287-5600.

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