AUGUSTA — The Maine House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill that would allow municipalities to opt in to the state’s Informed Growth Act law. The House voted 90-59, mostly along party lines. Twelve Democrats voted with the Republican majority. Current law requires developers of so-called big-box retail projects to commission independent studies weighing […]

AUGUSTA — The Legislature’s Environmental Committee on Monday ditched several proposals that would have made significant changes to Maine’s 35-year-old bottle bill. The committee unanimously passed one omnibus bill that deals primarily with fraud issues within the state’s bottle redemption law. It rejected two of the most controversial bills that proposed exempting larger containers from […]

AUGUSTA — Republican lawmakers in Augusta have long expressed a desire to overhaul how insurance is purchased in the state. On Friday, the GOP took an unprecedented, and surprising, step toward fulfilling that wish. In a move that infuriated Democrats, seven Republicans on the Legislature’s Insurance Committee approved a bill that would repeal existing state […]

AUGUSTA — In a close vote that saw one Republican scramble back to the fold, the Legislature’s Labor Committee backed an amended bill Friday that would eliminate workers’ right to unionize at the DeCoster-owned Quality Egg farm in Turner. One Republican, Rep. Frederick Wintle, R-Garland, earlier in the day had sided with Democrats in an […]

AUGUSTA — Philip Congdon, who Wednesday abruptly resigned his post as the state’s head of economic development, says the offensive comments that apparently cost him his job were not reported accurately and taken out of context. Congdon stepped down as the commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development following widespread complaints that the […]

AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage’s administration underwent a major overhaul Wednesday as one cabinet member resigned and another was reassigned.  Both moves came amid more controversy for the governor, whose first four months in office have been marked by turmoil. Department of Environmental Protection Chief Darryl Brown, a Livermore Falls resident, stepped down after Attorney […]

AUGUSTA — Longstanding regional tensions over Canadian loggers working Maine woodlots have become the latest political flash point for Augusta lawmakers. Earlier this month Republican legislators rejected a bill that would penalize landowners for hiring foreign “bonded” laborers in harvesting operations. On Tuesday, Senate Republicans were poised to defeat another proposal that would award a […]

AUGUSTA — Backers of a 1,500-slot machine facility planned for Lewiston’s former Bates Mill No. 5 are hoping to persuade lawmakers to green-light the project without a statewide referendum. However, those efforts face opposition from anti-casino groups and Gov. Paul LePage. Dan Billings, LePage’s legal counsel, told the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee on […]

AUGUSTA — Critics of a bill that would establish drug testing for recipients of state assistance say the proposal is likely unconstitutional. That was the testimony delivered Monday by low-income and civil rights advocates in response to a bill by Sen. Thomas Saviello, R-Wilton, who proposed suspending benefits for MaineCare recipients who test positive for […]