AUGUSTA — Expanding Medicaid in Maine would stimulate $350 million in economic activity, create more than 3,100 jobs and generate as much as $18 million in state and local taxes annually, according to a policy report released Tuesday. But if Maine decides against expanding Medicaid, it stands to lose to other states the $256 million […]
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Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Businesses in military towns brace for budget hit
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Like many who make their living in the commercial strip outside the gates of Fort Bragg, Mike Thomas is confident the $85 billion in automatic military spending cuts will hurt sales at his used car lot and rim shop. The vast majority of his customers work on the base, and smaller […]
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Posted inBusiness, Local & State, sj-web
After summer glut, Maine mulls helping lobster biz
PORTLAND — Lawmakers are looking to boost Maine’s troubled lobster industry with proposals that would pump more money into marketing the state’s signature seafood and offer tax breaks to encourage more lobster processing. The moves follow last year’s chaotic fishing season that saw a lobster glut, a crash in wholesale prices and tensions boil over. […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Hannaford parent company lays off 350 corporate employees; Scarborough affected
Delhaize America, owner of Hannaford, is laying off 350 corporate employees, including an unspecified number at the supermarket chain’s headquarters in Scarborough. Michael Norton, a Hannaford spokesman, wouldn’t confirm how many of the 350 layoffs would take place in Scarborough, where the company employs roughly 1,000 people in corporate, back-office functions. “We’re not parsing it […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
LePage declines liquor operator’s plea to keep state contract
AUGUSTA — The company that has operated Maine’s wholesale liquor business since 2004 pledged Wednesday to help the state repay the $186 million it owes its hospitals while guaranteeing the state at least $32 million in annual revenue in exchange for continuing to operate the business for another 10 years. But swiftly declined the offer […]
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Politics slows economy that wants to grow
There has been constant disagreement throughout this long economic slump about what the government should be doing to stimulate the economy and reduce unemployment. But we may have finally reached the point where the best thing Washington can do is simply get off the front page and out of the way. Many experts now agree […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
LePage swears, storms out of meeting with independent House members, lawmakers say
AUGUSTA — swore, pounded a table and stormed out of a meeting with three independent House members last week, according to the lawmakers. The trio said they hoped to talk to the governor about alternate approaches to balancing the state budget. Instead, the lawmakers said the governor called them “idiots” and again railed against Maine’s […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Documentary targets critics of fracking to find natural gas
PITTSBURGH (AP) — “FrackNation” is a new documentary that attacks opponents of fracking for oil and gas, but it also raises a bigger question: Is it possible to criticize environmentalists without being a tool for big industry? Fracking is a method of stimulating oil and gas from deep underground that’s led to a historic boom […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
LePage’s hospital debt plan depends on more liquor revenue for state
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage’s plan to repay the $186 million Maine owes its hospitals for outstanding Medicaid bills relies largely on the state’s ability to renegotiate its wholesale liquor contract under terms that direct a larger portion of liquor profits to state coffers. State officials estimate Maine can earn $30 million in profit annually […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Economist: Maine job growth to be meager in 2013
PORTLAND (AP) — Wage and salary jobs in Maine are expected to grow by only 0.5 percent in 2013, but the state could actually lose jobs if Congress can’t come to terms on federal financial matters, a leading Maine economist said Tuesday. Maine should add only 3,100 jobs during the year, and the unemployment rate […]