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Maine is stifling this homemade solution to the housing crisis

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Maine is stifling this homemade solution to the housing crisis


SOUTH PARIS, Maine — Home builders around Maine routinely turn clients away or add them to yearslong wait lists. This one is begging for more business.

KBS Builders, a manufactured home company, can churn out up to four homes a week in their hulking western Maine headquarters. Their customizable modular homes are built to the same standard as a stick-built home and leave the factory within months to be shipped — 90 percent finished with utilities already installed — to sites all across New England.

But KBS is only operating at 60 percent of that building’s capacity. Five years ago, the company bought a second factory out of bankruptcy that sits empty. While their business is growing, a web of arcane regulatory barriers unique to Maine is holding it back from doing more here.

The state treats manufactured homes as singular products, so they are taxed once on materials and again on installation. They also cannot be sold directly to consumers, so KBS requires middlemen to put them up. Neither the installers nor contractors working on stick-built homes need licenses, but Maine requires licenses to do modular work.

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“I’ve taken all the complexity out of assembling this building, and you’re still requiring someone to have licensure to install this on site. But somebody can go get all the raw parts and build it themselves on site with zero license?” KBS President Thatcher Butcher said. “You tell me where that makes sense.”

A workman guides a wall structure as it’s lifted with a crane at KBS Builders in South Paris. KBS is the largest home manufacturer in Maine and roughly half its output goes to out-of-state customers. Credit: Troy R. Bennett / BDN

New Hampshire and Vermont regulate the industry the same way, although New Hampshire has no sales tax. Licenses are administered by the Maine Manufactured Housing Board, which was established in 1986 to control the quality of mobile homes, which were synonymous with poorly built trailers. Today, a modular home is often more energy efficient than a stick-built home.

Butcher has repeatedly lobbied legislators to provide parity between modular and traditional site-based construction. Lawmakers have been more interested in licensing all contractors like 35 other states do, although a bill on the subject failed last year. Rep. Tiffany Roberts, D-South Berwick, plans to submit a similar measure again this session, she said.

There are only a dozen licensed modular home installers in Maine, Sarah Sturtevant, a research consultant at the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition, found by calling through a list on the Manufactured Housing Board’s website. Those installers are able to charge a premium, edging consumers away from modular construction, Butcher said.

“Our growth in Maine has very much been more limited than in other states, which is unfortunate, because out of all the areas that we service, I think Maine has the most need for housing,” Thatcher said.

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KBS’ expansion would also bring more dependable construction jobs to western Maine, a region that was once home to several manufactured housing builders before the 2008 recession. KBS currently employs 120 people, many of whom said they preferred working for a modular builder to doing site-based work.

“The big advantage for these guys is the inside environment. Working inside, they’re not shivering to death when they’re doing their job, and it makes a big difference,” Gary Cossar, a receiver at KBS’ warehouse, said.

Being able to build homes year round is another perk of building modular in Maine. Sam Hight, who runs the Hight family of car dealerships in Skowhegan and is a developer who has built three rural affordable rental projects with KBS, broke ground on an 18-unit project in Madison in November and had it finished by April.

Using a nail gun, a workman installs exterior trim on a kitchen window at KBS Builders in South Paris. Credit: Troy R. Bennett / BDN

Unlike with stick-built projects he’s done in the past, Hight didn’t have to wait for laborers or subcontractors to become available and travel to his remote site. KBS has a full team including electricians, plumbers and finishers working together in South Paris.

Lawmakers will soon consider promoting modular construction to meet lofty housing goals this upcoming year. Sen. Rick Bennett, R-Oxford, said he is submitting one bill that would remove the double tax and another that will focus on rebuilding the industry in Oxford County with startup capital and incentives. Other lawmakers are interested in focusing on it as well.

“[This] industry presents an opportunity for future growth and innovation in how we get housing built and how we address the underproduction issues that we face, not only here in Maine, but certainly across the country,” House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, said.

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Maine

4 hurt in crash after Maine shooting sparks high-speed chase with Mass. man

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4 hurt in crash after Maine shooting sparks high-speed chase with Mass. man


Four people were hurt and a Massachusetts man was arrested in Maine on Wednesday night after police said he left the scene of a shooting and led officers on a high-speed chase that ended in a crash.

Luis Andres Lorenzo Rondon, 24, of Lawrence, was arrested in connection with the police pursuit. He was charged with eluding an officer, driving to endanger, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon — his car — and criminal speeding, according to Maine State Police.

At around 11:33 p.m. on April 16, reports of several shots fired on Park Street in the town of Paris, Maine came into the department.

There were no people injured in the shooting, the department said.

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A nearby trooper who responded to the scene saw a blue SUV leaving the immediate area, Maine State Police said. The driver of the SUV was later identified as Rondon.

Rondon refused to pull over for officers when they tried to stop him in West Paris, “initiating a high-speed pursuit,” the department said.

The 24-year-old was pursued by multiple officers through several Maine towns for about 15 miles, including by Maine State Police troopers and law enforcement from Oxford and Androscoggin counties, the department said.

Rondon finally crashed in a field on Route 26 in Mechanic Falls after he hit a spike mat deployed on the road by police, the department said.

He and three other people who were in the car were all injured and were brought to Central Maine Medical Center. One passenger in the car had serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

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Two guns were found after the chase, the department said, and Rondon was charged in connection with the police pursuit and taken into custody. No charges or suspects in the shooting incident have been announced by the department as of Thursday morning.

The investigation into the entire incident is ongoing, according to Maine State Police.



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The Trump administration’s intensifying feud with Maine arrives in court

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The Trump administration’s intensifying feud with Maine arrives in court


A month into Donald Trump’s second term, the president hosted a White House event for the National Governors Association, which quite didn’t go as planned. The Republican picked a fight with Maine’s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, over transgender student athletes, apparently hoping to bully her into submission.

It didn’t work. “See you in court,” the governor told him.

The prediction is now coming to fruition. The Associated Press reported:

The Trump administration on Wednesday sued Maine for not complying with the government’s push to ban transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports, escalating a dispute over whether the state is abiding by a federal law that bars discrimination in education based on sex. … The political overtones of the moment were clear, with Attorney General Pam Bondi — and several athletes who joined her on stage at the Justice Department — citing the matter as a priority for Trump.

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At a press conference, Bondi said, in reference to the president, “This has been a huge issue for him.” That’s not generally the kind of argument Americans hear from an attorney general justifying a Justice Department case against a state, but here we are.

This is not, however, the only case of interest: Bondi’s Title IX case dovetails with a separate case, brought by Maine, which recently sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture over funds it froze as a result of the underlying dispute. Late last week, U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock Jr., a George W. Bush appointee, granted the state’s request for a temporary restraining order and ordered the Cabinet agency to release the funding.

The same day, Trump’s Department of Education, which still exists in a lesser form, said that it was moving forward with plans to cut off all federal funding for Maine’s public schools because of the state’s policy on trans student athletes.

Alas, for the Republican president and his team, this is not the only evidence of the apparent feud. Earlier this month, for example, the public learned that Leland Dudek, the Trump-appointed acting head of the Social Security Administration, ordered the termination of some federal contracts with Maine because the governor bothered the president. (The move was later reversed.)

In case that weren’t quite enough, after Trump clashed with Mills, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also sent a letter to Maine cancelling funding for Maine Sea Grant.

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Time will tell whether the courts put a stop to all of this, or whether the governor is forced to back down. Watch this space.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.



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Maine’s young people are still leaving — here’s how we keep them

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Maine’s young people are still leaving — here’s how we keep them


There’s a quiet ache many Maine communities feel today — not from a single event, but from a slow, steady shift. You notice it when a local high school graduation gets smaller each year. When the town store closes early because there’s no one to work. Or when a neighbor’s grandchild leaves for college and never moves back.

Maine is proud of its deep roots and generational ties. We are a state where hard work, close-knit communities and respect for the land are part of everyday life. But we also face a hard truth: Too many young people are leaving and not enough are staying — or coming back. Many want to live here. It’s just too expensive to do so.

This isn’t just a demographic challenge. It’s a serious threat to our economy, our workforce and our future. If we want strong schools, thriving small businesses, working forests and farms, and vibrant downtowns, we need to make Maine a place where young people can build a life — and want to.

That means doing more than just hoping they’ll return. It means making smart, intentional investments in the things that matter most: education, housing, job opportunities and community.

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First, we need to expand career pathways that lead to fulfilling, family-sustaining jobs — whether that’s through apprenticeships, trades programs or partnerships between local employers and community colleges. We need to create foundations for young Mainers to become business owners by prioritizing economics and personal finance courses in our schools.

Second, we must address the housing crunch that’s hitting young families especially hard. In many towns, affordable starter homes are almost nonexistent. Rent is up and homeownership feels out of reach for too many. That’s why I’ve introduced and backed legislation to increase investment in affordable housing for Maine’s workforce.

Third, we must expand access to reliable, affordable child care. No young parent can afford to stay in Maine if child care costs more than their paycheck or is impossible to find. Supporting families also means supporting the early educators who make this work possible. I know that when we support Maine families, we’re not just helping individuals; we’re strengthening the fabric of our communities.

Finally, we have to stop pretending that rural life and opportunity are incompatible. From remote work to small-scale farming, small businesses, space exploration or tech startups, there is so much potential in Maine’s small towns and cities — if we support it. That’s why I’m focused on legislation that supports local entrepreneurs, improves rural infrastructure, modernizes and local farms.

We won’t reverse the trend overnight. But we can take meaningful steps, right now, to build the kind of future where young Mainers see a path forward in the place they call home. I believe in Maine’s next generation. And I believe our best days are still ahead — not behind.

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I say all of this as someone who thought I would never be able to afford (or have the opportunity) to return home to Maine. I hope that our work here in Augusta ensures young Mainers don’t just leave with a suitcase, but instead return with a future and a plan to stay.

Mattie Daughtry represents state Senate District 23, which covers Brunswick, Chebeague Island, Freeport, Harpswell, Pownal and part of Yarmouth. She also serves as Maine’s Senate president. She can be reached at Mattie.Daughtry@legislature.maine.gov or 287-1515.





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