Sen. Olympia Snowe’s announcement that she won’t seek re-election to a fourth term in the U.S. Senate was a shocker, but not so paralyzing that potential candidates were frozen in place. Quite the contrary. The rush to file petition papers was so speedy, it’s a wonder the hopefuls weren’t crashing into each other at the […]
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Snowe: Congress could use more like her
Sen. Olympia Snowe, a fierce advocate for Maine and an unbeatable candidate at the polls, has been beaten down by the political machine of Congress, by the partisan bickering and by the general deterioration of civility in Washington, D.C. It’s sad commentary when public service is rewarded with personal pain. On Tuesday, Snowe announced she […]
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Balancing celebration with safety
And so it begins. On Thursday, a retail fireworks shop will open in Manchester, the first to be licensed under a recently passed law to permit the use and sale of fireworks in Maine. We’re still about four months from the Fourth of July, the date most typically associated with fireworks, but it’s not too […]
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Public access is our basic right
When the Judiciary Committee convenes tomorrow afternoon, it will hold a work session on LD 1805, a proposal to create a new exception in Maine’s Freedom of Access Act to permit the governor — the current and all future governors — to withhold “working papers, reports and memoranda” from public scrutiny. It’s an exception that, […]
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MaineCare: There’s plenty of outrage to go around
When Gov. Paul LePage first proposed cutting $221 million from the state’s Medicaid rolls, he said we had been generous to a fault. We had, over the years, added benefits that we could no longer afford. As the legislative debate heated up, along with the governor’s temper, the chief executive took a different tack. “Maine […]
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Let’s clear up the confusion on texting, driving
It’s a little late to jeer lawmakers for any serious consideration of a bill that would exempt police, emergency medical personnel and firefighters from the state’s ban on texting while driving. Our readers have already weighed in, and offered enough jeers to go around. Beth Ring of Peru wrote: “No one should be driving and […]
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Citizens see a compelling need to ‘trim’
Here’s a popular citizen idea: trim the size of the Legislature. If we did, we’d have fewer lawmakers to propose spending bills and less support costs to staff and administer Maine’s yearly sessions. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures Maine is ranked 40 when it comes to total population but it has the […]
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It’s time to stop property-tax cheats
Wouldn’t it be entertaining if, at the end of each legislative session, the voting public could hold a contest for the most absurd bill considered for passage? We have a contender. LD 1470 is a much-amended concept bill which, in its original draft, would have required property owners enrolled in the state’s Tree Growth Tax […]
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A priority to end violence in our homes
The Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence and Gov. Paul LePage hosted the second annual Domestic Violence Awareness Day at the State House Monday, bringing much-needed attention to the insidious and often secret crime of domestic violence. LePage has pledged, and often repeated, that domestic violence awareness is a top priority for his administration. It […]
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Forfeiting the public trust
In 2007, Sens. John Kerry and Ken Salazar introduced the Congressional Integrity and Pension Forfeiture Act. It would have amended federal law to allow the forfeiture of benefits — including pensions — of members of Congress following conviction of any public corruption crime, such as perjury, forgery, bribery, tampering and obstruction. Very quickly, the bill […]