Members of Maine’s congressional delegation spent much of Thursday watching closely for details on a new federal spending plan after President-elect Donald Trump derailed an earlier proposal in a move that threatened to result in a government shutdown.
Three of Maine’s four representatives — Sen. Susan Collins, Sen. Angus King. and Rep. Chellie Pingree — were preparing to support the deal to fund the federal government through mid-March when Trump intervened and urged Republicans earlier this week to reject it.
Rep. Jared Golden had planned to vote against the deal over his opposition to pay raises and a change in health care benefits for members of Congress that he said would have the federal government pick up more of the cost of members’ health care premiums.
On Thursday evening, the House rejected Trump’s new plan to fund federal operations and suspend the debt ceiling a day before a government shutdown, as Democrats refused to accommodate his sudden demands and the quick fix cobbled together by Republican leaders.
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“Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People,” Trump said in a statement posted on the social media platform Truth Social. “The newly agreed to American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes.”
Here’s where Maine’s Congressional delegation stood on the negotiations as of Thursday afternoon:
Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, said this week that she was planning to support the original continuing resolution to temporarily fund the government through mid-March. In a written statement Thursday, she said she was hoping to avoid a government shutdown since it could have negative consequences across government.
Shutdowns can disrupt everything from air travel to the ability of older Americans to apply for Social Security benefits to pay for members of the military and other essential federal employees, Collins said.
“In fact, government shutdowns actually cost taxpayers money by increasing the cost of short-term borrowing by the government and by adversely affecting the entire economy,” Collins said. “As we await the House’s deliberations, I am continuing to work with my colleagues to find a path forward to fund the government ahead of Friday’s midnight deadline.”
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Sen. Angus King, an independent, told reporters on Wednesday that he also had planned to support the original plan and said there is “no excuse” to shut down the government.
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King also said he was hoping lawmakers in the House wouldn’t enforce a rule that says they don’t vote on anything until it has been in their possession for 72 hours, to avoid votes going into the weekend.
“The question is, are they going to enforce that rule, or will they move forward so that we can avoid the shutdown that would occur on Friday night?” King said. “But, I am hoping that reasonableness will prevail, and we’ll get this thing done before Friday night.”
A spokesperson for King said early Thursday afternoon that it would be hard to discuss the latest plans because everything was changing very rapidly amid the negotiations.
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Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, announced Wednesday that he planned to vote against the funding plan that was before lawmakers earlier this week because he is opposed to a $6,600 raise for members of Congress for a 3.8% cost-of-living adjustment. The adjustment would bring annual salaries to just over $180,000.
Golden was also opposed to a provision that would allow members to purchase health insurance through the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, rather than the Affordable Care Act exchange, a move he said would result in the federal government funding larger shares of members’ health insurance premiums at the expense of taxpayers.
“I think it would be wrong of Congress to vote to give itself a pay raise and lower our health care costs at a time when the inverse may be true for many Americans,” Golden said in an interview Thursday.
He said he would continue to oppose any new plan if it continued to include those measures. “Sometimes there are things that are just so egregiously out of step with the values that this institution should represent and with what I think the American people would view as right versus very clearly wrong, that it’s worth being a ‘no,’” Golden said.
Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, said in a written statement Thursday that she had been preparing to vote in favor of the original funding package to make sure the government remained open and that critical programs would not be interrupted.
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“From the devastating storms in Maine last winter, hurricanes in the Southeast, and wildfires in the West, natural disasters have devastated countless communities,” Pingree said. “That package would have delivered billions — including $325 million for Maine — in essential relief to help families rebuild their homes, restore local economies, and fortify critical infrastructure, as well as assistance for our farmers.”
In her work as ranking member on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Pingree said she was happy to see the bill include $2.26 billion for the National Park Service to address storm damage at impacted parks around the country, including Acadia National Park and $14 million that would have helped Maine address the spread of the invasive spruce budworm.
“But it took less than 24 hours for Republicans to kill their own bill at Trump’s order and concede to the online rantings of Elon Musk,” Pingree said.
“Now, just days before Christmas, Congress is left scrambling down to the wire to avoid a government shutdown. It’s my hope we can come to a bipartisan agreement — that includes this crucial funding for Maine communities and farmers — before it’s too late.”
Cory LaForge always liked a particular restaurant space on Main Street in Bucksport, which recently housed My Buddy’s Place and the Friar’s Brewhouse Tap Room before that.
So much so that, when it became available two months ago, he decided to open his own restaurant there.
Salsa Shack Maine, which opened in early December, is a physical location for the food truck business he’s operated out of Ellsworth and Orland for the last two years. The new spot carrying tacos, burritos and quesadillas adds to a growing restaurant scene in Bucksport and is meant to be a welcoming community space.
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“I just loved the feeling of having a smaller restaurant,” LaForge said. “It feels more intimate. This place is designed where you can have a good conversation or talk to your customers, like they’re not just another number on a ticket.”
Salsa Shack Maine joins a growing number of new restaurants on Main Street in Bucksport. Credit: Elizabeth Walztoni / BDN
After growing up in the midcoast, LaForge eventually moved west to work in restaurants at ski areas, where he was exposed to more cultural diversity and new types of food – including tacos.
“It’s like all these different flavors that we’re not exposed to in Maine, so it’s like, I feel like I’ve been living a lie my whole life,” he said. “It was fun to bring all those things that I learned back here.”
When he realized his goal of opening a food truck in 2023 after returning to Maine, LaForge found the trailer he’d purchased on Facebook Marketplace was too small to fit anything but tortillas – and the Salsa Shack was born.
It opened at the Ellsworth Harbor Park in 2023 and operated out of the Orland Community Center in the winter. What started as an experiment took off in popularity and has been busy ever since.
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LaForge calls his style “Maine-Mex:” a mix of authentic street tacos in a build-your-own format with different salsas and protein. Speciality salsas include corn and black bean, roasted poblano, pineapple jalapeno and mango Tajin.
The larger kitchen space in the new restaurant has allowed a menu expansion to include quesadillas, burritos and burrito bowls in addition to the tacos, nachos and taco salad bowls sold from the food truck. Regular specials are also on the menu.
Salsa Shack’s new Bucksport kitchen means room for owner Cory LaForge to experiment. He’s added quesadillas, burritos and burrito bowls to the menu alongside regular specials, such as this shrimp taco. Credit: Elizabeth Walztoni / BDN
More new menu items are likely ahead, according to LaForge, along with a beer and wine license and expanded hours in the spring.
The food truck will live on for now, too; he’s signed up for a few events in the coming months.
Starting Jan. 6, the restaurant will also offer a buy-two-get-one-free “Taco Tuesday” promotion.
“It’s a really fun vibe here, and I feel like everyone finds it very comfortable and easy to come in and order,” LaForge said, comparing the restaurant’s atmosphere to the television show Cheers. “Even if you have to sit down and wait a little while, we always have some fun conversations going on.”
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So far, the welcome has been warm locally, he said, both from residents and the other new restaurant owners who help each other out. LaForge’s sole employee, Connor MacLeod, is also a familiar face from MacLeod’s Restaurant, which closed in March after 45 years on Main Street.
When it shut its doors, people in town weren’t sure where they would go, according to LaForge. But four new establishments opened in 2025, offering a range from Thai food to diner offerings.
“It’s kind of fun to see so [many] culinary changes,” he said.
The Salsa Shack is currently open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
The logos for streaming services Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus and Sling TV are pictured on a remote control on Aug. 13, 2020, in Portland, Ore. (Jenny Kane/Associated Press)
Maine consumers will soon see a new line on their monthly Netflix and Hulu bills. Starting Jan. 1, digital streaming services will be included in the state’s 5.5% sales tax.
The new charge — billed by the state as a way to level the playing field around how cable and satellite services and streaming services are taxed — is among a handful of tax changes coming in the new year.
The sales tax on adult-use cannabis will increase from 10% to 14%, also on Jan. 1. Taxes on cigarettes will increase $1.50 per pack — from $2 to $3.50 — on Jan. 5.
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All three changes are part of the $320 million budget package lawmakers approved in June as an addition to the baseline $11.3 billion two-year budget passed in March.
Here are a few things to know about the streaming tax:
1. Why is this new tax taking effect?
Taxes on streaming services have been a long time coming in Maine. Former Republican Gov. Paul LePage proposed the idea in 2017, and it was pitched by Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, in 2020 and 2024. The idea was rejected all three times — until this year.
State officials said last spring the change creates fairness in the sales tax as streaming services become more popular and ubiquitous. It’s also expected to generate new revenue for the state.
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2. What services are impacted?
Currently, music and movies that are purchased and downloaded from a website are subject to sales tax, but that same music and those same movies are not taxed when streamed online.
The new changes add sales tax to monthly subscriptions for movie, television and audio streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, Spotify and Pandora. Podcasts and ringtones or other sound recordings are also included.
3. How much is it likely to cost you?
The new tax would add less than $1 to a standard Netflix subscription without ads priced at $17.99 per month. An $89.99 Hulu live television subscription would increase by about $5 per month.
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Beginning Jan. 1, providers will be required to state the amount of sales tax on customers’ receipts or state that their price includes Maine sales tax.
4. How much new revenue is this generating for the state?
The digital streaming tax is expected to bring in $5 million in new revenue in fiscal year 2026, which ends June 30. After that, it’s projected to bring in $12.5 million annually, with that figure expected to increase to $14.3 million by 2029.
The tax increase on cigarettes, which also includes an equivalent hike on other tobacco products, is expected to boost state revenues by about $75 million in the first year.
The cannabis sales tax increase, meanwhile, will be offset in part by a reduction in cannabis excise taxes, which are paid by cultivation facilities on transfers to manufacturers or retailers. The net increase in state revenue will be about $3.9 million in the first full year, the state projects.
Cars and trucks travel northbound along the Maine Turnpike in Arundel through a messy wintry mix on Feb. 4, 2022. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer)
A wintry mix is forecasted to come down on Maine starting in the early hours of Monday morning.
A mix of sleet and snow is expected to start falling around 1 a.m. Monday in the Portland area and closer to 3 a.m. in the Lewiston area. The mix will likely transition to freezing rain on Monday morning in time for the morning commute, making roads icy, according to the National Weather Service in Gray.
“That’s going to make conditions not ideal for traveling,” said Stephen Baron, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
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As temperatures inch above 32 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday afternoon, the freezing rain is forecasted to transition to regular rain. Ice on the roads will start to melt over the afternoon as well.
The forecast for the rest of the week is fairly clear as of now. The only other potential precipitation is on Wednesday, with a festive snowfall on New Year’s Eve “around the countdown,” said Baron.
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Sophie is a community reporter for Cumberland, Yarmouth, North Yarmouth and Falmouth and previously reported for the Forecaster. Her memories of briefly living on Mount Desert Island as a child drew her…
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