Starting July 1,Enforcement of the Polystyrene Foam Ban Begins
Implementation of a state law that prohibits restaurants, stores, and a wide variety of other eating establishments including places in the entertainment, hospitality, recreation, and tourism industries; catering establishments; correctional facilities; hospital...
Maine Campaign Finance Regulator Hides Public Meeting During Investigation Of Anti-Corridor Group
The Maine Ethics Commission removed the video and livestream of a public proceeding after a commissioner mentioned the name of a person or business entity that the campaign finance regulator is investigating. The highly unusual move came at the request of Stop the...
Series of Bills Enacted Related to ‘Forever Chemicals’
Maine lawmakers have passed a set of bills aimed at addressing the growing problems posed by “forever chemicals” that have shut down several farms and contaminated dozens of private wells across the state. Lawmakers approved multiple bills dealing with the...
Bill To Form Consumer-Owned Utility Rejected
The Maine Senate voted down a bill to form a consumer-owned utility to buy the assets of Central Maine Power and Versant Power, reversing the results of initial Senate action and considerably dimming the bill’s chances of passing the Legislature this session. The...
Plastic Bag Ban Goes Into Effect July 1
Maine's plastic bag ban takes effect July 1, after which most retailers will be barred from bagging customers’ purchases in plastic bags. Customers will either have to bring their own reusable bags, opt for paper bags for which they will pay a mandatory 5-cent fee or...
June 18, 2021 Legislative Update
The Maine Legislature put in a couple long days this week with both the House and the Senate wrapping up the Legislative session with two evenings that went into the next morning. The full Legislature will likely be called back for “Veto Day.” Veto Day is when the...
Maine Legislators Support Bill to Allow Tribes to Run Gaming Businesses
The Maine Legislature passed a bill that would allow tribes to operate gaming businesses. The issue of tribal gaming has been hotly contested in Maine for years. The state has no competitive process to approve casinos, so casinos in Bangor and Oxford have been...
Governor Mills Ceremonially Swears In Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill
Joined by members of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, legislators, and others at the Blaine House, Governor Janet Mills ceremonially swore in Valerie Stanfill as Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Governor Mills nominated Stanfill to serve as Chief...
Maine House Supports a Bill That Shifts Recycling Costs
The Maine House of Representatives late Wednesday endorsed a first-in-the-nation bill that would shift some recycling and waste disposal costs from local taxpayers to producers of hard-to-recycle packaging materials. The bill, from Rep. Nicole Grohoski, D-Ellsworth,...
Maine Legislature Approves New Broadband Agency
Legislators approved the creation of a new public authority to coordinate investing tens of millions of dollars in federal funding for broadband infrastructure in Maine. Both houses of the Legislature passed L.D. 1484, establishing the Maine Connectivity Authority...