Author: William Rolfe

In a fiery letter sent Thursday, July 11, Governor Janet Mills announced her opposition to new federal regulations that aim to protect the endangered right whale. The new regulations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) come in response to the recent deaths of six right whales. Gov. Mills in her letter to the lobster industry said she would not comply with the new regulation, claiming that there was a “disturbing lack of evidence” to support NOAA’s new rules. The right whale is an endangered species that is native to the North Atlantic. Currently, biologists estimate that there are…

On Wednesday, June 26, Governor Janet Mills signed into law a pair of troublesome renewable energy bills: LD 1679, “An Act To Promote Clean Energy Jobs and To Establish the Maine Climate Council,” a Governor’s Bill sponsored by Senator David Woodsome of York; and LD 1494, “An Act To Reform Maine’s Renewable Portfolio Standard,” sponsored by Senator Eloise Vitelli of Sagadahoc. Both bills attempt to promote clean energy production by expanding the power of state government and providing handouts to certain renewable energy providers. The bill sponsored by Sen. Woodsome establishes a new climate change bureaucracy, proposed by Governor Mills…

Just before the conclusion of Maine’s most recent legislative session, lawmakers passed an occupational licensing reform bill that will make it easier for workers in some professions to obtain a license to work. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Erin Herbig, was signed into law by Governor Janet Mills on Friday, June 28 and expands economic freedom by easing some of the occupational licensing requirements for electricians, property appraisers and speech-language pathology assistants. Under previous law, there were only two ways that one could get licensed as a master electrician, dependent on the license status of the individual applying. Helper electricians…

On Wednesday, June 26, United States District Court Judge D. Brock Hornby issued a ruling that upheld a current law that prohibits state funds from being used as tuition to fund a child’s education at a religious secondary school through Maine’s school choice program. However, Judge Hornby himself acknowledged the case, Carson et al v. Makin, will likely be settled in a higher court. “We are grateful that Judge Hornby moved quickly to issue a ruling just two days after the hearing,” said Institute for Justice senior attorney Tim Keller, who is representing the plaintiffs in the case. “This fight…

Governor Janet Mills on Friday, June 28 signed into law LD 84, a bill sponsored by Rep. Patrick Corey of Windham, “Resolve, Directing the Department of Health and Human Services To Allow Spouses To Provide Home and Community-based Services to Eligible MaineCare Members.” The bill received bipartisan support in both chambers of the legislature and was passed to be funded from the Special Appropriations Table on the last day of the first regular session. LD 84 requires the state to submit a waiver to the federal government allowing reimbursement to individuals who provide care for their spouse under Section 19…

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Janus v. the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The Janus v. AFSCME decision is one of the biggest rulings in favor of the First Amendment in recent history. The ruling defends public workers from compelled speech in support of unions through the deduction of dues and fees from workers’ paychecks. Prior to Janus, employees who did not wish to join a union were compelled by states and collective bargaining law to pay the union “agency fees.” Agency fees were long seen as a means…

Both the Maine House and Senate voted Friday, June 14 in favor of approving a new biennial budget that Governor Janet Mills signed into law Monday afternoon, weeks in advance of the deadline to avoid a government shutdown. The new $7.98 billion dollar budget is a $780 million, or 10.8 percent, increase over the previous budget. Both parties (and the governor) are already heralding the bipartisanship needed for passage while simultaneously claiming victories on their priorities that made it into the final agreement. Maine is expected to receive $7.87 billion dollars in General Fund revenue during the upcoming biennium, approximately…

On Tuesday, June 11, the Maine House of Representatives voted 73-70 in favor of passing a heavily-amended version of LD 1254, “An Act To Authorize a Local Option Sales Tax on Meals and Lodging and Provide Funding To Treat Opioid Use Disorder”. The amended version of the bill changed the purpose of the aid from opioids to rural development at the request of the Taxation Committee, but it failed to garner enough support in the Senate, failing by a vote of 21-14 just two days later. In response, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Michael Sylvester of Portland, successfully stripped the meals…

Two days after the Maine Senate voted 24-11 in favor of passing LD 255, “Resolution, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Require That Signatures on a Direct Initiative of Legislation Come from Each Congressional District”, the Maine House rejected the measure 81-63 on its enactment vote, 15 votes short of the two-thirds threshold required to pass a constitutional amendment. LD 255, sponsored by Sen. Brad Farrin, seeks to establish that a minimum number of signatures be gathered from citizens in both congressional districts prior to an initiative achieving ballot status. Currently, there is no rule regarding where…

Governor Janet Mills last week signed into law LD 946 “An Act To Protect the Privacy of Online Customer Information”. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Shenna Bellows, bars Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from selling users data without their expressed consent, making it one of the strictest regulations of ISPs in the country. Despite this, LD 946 does nothing to protect consumers from one of the main sources of privacy violation: content providers. Companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Hulu and Netflix are some of the most well-known content providers. These outfits generally provide a service to the consumer, much…

The Maine House of Representatives on Wednesday considered LD 1282, “An Act to Establish a Green New Deal for Maine”, a bill sponsored by Rep. Chloe Maxmin of Nobleboro. After Rep. Maxmin made an emotional appeal on the floor of the House, the body passed her bill by a vote of 84-55. When speaking on the House floor about her motivation for sponsoring the bill, Rep. Maxmin stated “I care about our future. I want the Maine that I hand down to my children to be the same Maine that raised me. But I already see this changing and that…

The Maine House of Representatives on Monday, June 3 voted 87-51 along party lines to pass a heavily-amended version of LD 665, “An Act to Enact the Campus Free Expression Act.” Sponsored by Rep. John Andrews of Paris, the bill prior to its amendment reaffirmed Maine public college and university students’ First Amendment rights on campus. In the original text, LD 665 prohibited public universities from creating “free speech zones,” or designated areas on campus where students can exercise their First Amendment rights. This form of restriction on students’ free speech is commonplace on college campuses across the country and…