The law, effective Jan. 1, 2021, will require businesses with 10 or more employees to give their workers as much 40 hours of paid time yearly for illness or family emergencies.
Scott Thistle
Scott Thistle is the State House reporter for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He has covered politics and government in Maine since 2006. Prior to that he served as the State House reporter for the Duluth News Tribune in Duluth, Minnesota. A Maine native, Thistle has worked in journalism since 1990, when he got his start at a weekly newspaper in rural Oxford County, Maine. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and an active volunteer with the National Ski Patrol. He resides with his wife, Amy and his two sons Finn and Kai, in Auburn, Maine.
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Maine cities and towns may get the chance to collect local sales taxes
The Legislature’s Taxation Committee narrowly approved a bill to let municipalities add a 1 percent tax on sales of meals and lodgings.
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Senate passes bill to allow more medical professionals to perform abortions
The measure, which passed 19-16 with largely Democratic support, was previously approved by the House and has the backing of Gov. Janet Mills.
Posted inMaine, Nation / World, News, Politics
‘Red flag’ gun bill gets narrow support from key legislative committee
The proposal would let police temporarily take firearms from people deemed by a judge to be a threat to themselves or others.
Posted inMaine, News, Politics
Panel hears arguments on conflicting bills to direct immigration enforcement in Maine
One would push police to work more closely with federal authorities, while the other would prohibit them from enforcing federal immigration law.
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Bill to allow more medical professionals to perform abortions is closer to passage
The bill, which has the support of Gov. Janet Mills but still faces votes in the Senate, comes at a time when other states are restricting access to abortion.
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District attorney drops misdemeanor charges against former Maine lawmaker
Former Republican state Rep. Jeffrey Pierce was charged with failing to disclose a 1983 felony conviction when he obtained a hunting license.
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More asthma, fewer cod: Mills cites impacts on Maine as she pitches climate council to lawmakers
The governor tells the Environment and Natural Resources Committee that Maine will need to diversify its industries and find new sources of energy in response to climate change.
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Democrats’ bill calls for sweeping review of Maine’s mental health system
Several Democratic lawmakers want a task force to find fixes for a mental health system that has failed to deliver community services decades after major institutions closed.
Posted inMaine, News, Politics
Maine Senate reverses course, ends religious exemption for vaccines
The bill – expected to be signed by Gov. Mills – is one of the most controversial to move through the Legislature in recent years.