AUGUSTA — The Maine Department of Health and Human Services said Friday it intends to move forward with a Gov. Paul LePage plan to put photographs on the state’s electronic benefits transfer cards. EBT cards are similar to bank debit cards and are used by the state to issue a variety of welfare benefits, including […]
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LePage heralds drop in Maine’s unemployment rate
LEWISTON — Republican Gov. Paul LePage was touting his economic policies again Friday on the heels of the latest unemployment data released by the U.S. Department of Labor. Figures for March show Maine’s jobless rate decreased to 5.9 percent, the lowest rate the state has seen since LePage took office in January 2011. The rate […]
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Maine Senate amends, approves bill to expand access to anti-heroin drug
AUGUSTA — After unanimous votes Wednesday in both chambers, the Maine Legislature sent Gov. Paul LePage a bill that broadens access to a medication meant to counter deadly overdoses of opiate-based drugs, including prescription painkillers and heroin. Slight changes to the bill that originated in the Senate on Wednesday reportedly will make it more acceptable […]
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Maine Senate sustains veto, pulls blinds on solar energy rebate bill
AUGUSTA — The state Senate on Wednesday, by sustaining the governor’s veto, pulled the blinds on a bill that would have allowed homeowners to get rebates for installing solar panels. Republican Gov. Paul LePage vetoed the bill that also created a rebate program for low-income families who install electric heat-pump systems because it funded the […]
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Medicaid expansion fails in Maine for a third time
AUGUSTA (AP) — The Maine Legislature failed on Friday in its third attempt to overturn Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill that would expand Medicaid coverage to 70,000 low-income residents under the federal health care law — an issue that’s certain to play prominently in this year’s governor’s race. The 22-13 vote in the […]
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Senate deals quick death to LePage bill to turn state agency into campaign lie detector
AUGUSTA — “The truthiness bill.” “The lie-detector law.” “The truth-squad bill.” In hallway conversations, Democrats have come up with many names for Gov. Paul LePage’s bill that would make the state Ethics Commission investigate claims that candidates for state office had lied on the campaign trail. But it was with zero floor speeches or debate […]
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Maine Democrats urge LePage to sign offshore tax haven legislation
AUGUSTA — Lawmakers in the Legislature’s Democratic majority were urging Republican Gov. Paul LePage not to veto a tax-reform bill that they say closes loopholes in state law that allow multinational corporations to evade Maine income taxes. House Majority Leader Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, along with a host of Democratic colleagues, including those who serve on […]
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LePage vetoes Medicaid expansion, says it would be ‘ruinous’
AUGUSTA, Maine — As expected, Gov. Paul LePage on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would expand Medicaid coverage to roughly 70,000 low-income Mainers and dramatically overhaul the administration of the program by outsourcing it to managed care organizations. The Legislature gave final enactment to the bill on March 28, starting a countdown for LePage to […]
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Deal in the works to win LePage’s support for drug that can stop heroin overdose
AUGUSTA, Maine — A deal is in the works to win Gov. Paul LePage’s support for a proposal to make naloxone — a life-saving, overdose-stopping drug — more readily available, said the bill’s sponsor. Naloxone, also known by its brand name, Narcan, blocks opioid receptors in the drug user’s brain, ending the euphoria and effects […]
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GOP unlikely to back Medicaid expansion
AUGUSTA — An early-morning fix Wednesday to the state’s 2015 budget shortfall, which included a way to drastically reduce the numbers on a state waiting list for Medicaid coverage, may have little effect on the ongoing debate about whether Maine should expand MaineCare, its low-income health care program. Republican Gov. Paul LePage on Wednesday afternoon […]