AUGUSTA — The head of the Department of Health and Human Services says her department’s budget deficit has increased by more than $50 million in the span of two weeks. According to DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew, the funding gap has jumped from $71 million to $121 million. The increase alarmed lawmakers on the Legislature’s Budget […]

AUGUSTA — In May, Jon Olson, the executive secretary with the Maine Farm Bureau Association, provided the Legislature’s Legal Affairs Committee with what he believes is a textbook example of a regulatory seizure of private property. Olson told the story of a Unity dairy farmer who had received approval and federal cost sharing to expand […]

Staff with the state’s ethics commission is recommending an investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office into the alleged misuse of public campaign finance funds by State Rep. David R. Burns, R-Alfred. According to meeting materials released Friday, a random audit of candidates using the Maine Clean Election Fund showed that Burns spent approximately $2,500 […]

AUGUSTA — After several weeks of public build-up, a Portland public housing project on Tuesday found itself in the political cross hairs at the Maine State Housing Authority’s monthly board meeting. As the tense meeting at MaineHousing’s Water Street headquarters unfolded in front of television cameras and other media — some alerted in advance by […]

AUGUSTA — When Mainers voted last week to overturn the Legislature’s repeal of Election Day registration, the state’s voting rights debate shifted immediately to LD 199. The bill, held over from last session, would require voters to show photo identification at the polls. The measure had more than 80 Republican co-sponsors, support that would seem […]

LEWISTON — After several months of bizarre twists and turns, the battle over Election Day registration is over. The coalition that sought to restore Maine’s 38-year-old election law on Tuesday successfully beat back the Republican Legislature’s efforts to repeal it. And it wasn’t close. The Associated Press called the race for the Yes on 1 […]

The chairman of the Maine Republican Party is defending a print advertisement that singles out a gay rights’ group’s involvement in the effort to retain Election Day registration.  GOP Chairman Charlie Webster said the ad, which was circulated by more than 25 community newspapers, was designed to “educate” the public about EqualityMaine, one of the […]