Maine
Rooks: National Popular Vote Compact a highlight of disjointed Maine legislative session
When the Legislature left town last week, it did so among confusion and a bevy of bills not acted on.
The sun was up by Thursday’s 5:30 a.m. adjournment. Legislators were exhausted and many were unhappy about the way the end-of-session crunch was handled.
This outcome may have been inevitable when a late budget amendment filed by House Appropriations Chair Melanie Sachs (D-Freeport) blew up a contentious but relatively quiet struggle over election year spending.
The now-notorious amendment took back half of the highway funding garnished from the General Fund and reduced a pension exemption for state workers. It roused immediate concern from Gov. Janet Mills, who also vowed to veto a storm relief package if it contained $100 million in additional spending.
In the end, lawmakers got some of what they wanted. The storm relief, some $50 million, was amended to add $10 million for small business.
And lawmakers quietly rejected a $108 million savings account proposed by Mills and instead allocated it to additional spending. The “savings” made little sense since Mills had also proposed withdrawing the storm relief money from the existing “rainy day” fund.
Because the budget debate extended through the final day, only a handful of enacted bills “on the table” at Appropriations were funded, leaving more than 100 to die.
One pleasant surprise: a real bond package for the first time since 2019. It’s a mini-package of $65 million, with $30 million for trails, $25 million for research and development, and $10 million for community historic preservation.
The relevant bills were proposed by current and former Appropriations members, who have the perseverance to overcome long odds. The preservation bond is a tribute to retiring Rep. Sawin Millett, now 86, whose legislative service began in 1967.
Traditionally, Maine governors propose robust biennial bond packages, but Mills has not. Her predecessor, Paul LePage, blocked any bond he could, sometimes extra-legally, so one must go back to Gov. John Baldacci (2003-11) to find significant investments subject to voter approval.
A similar package today would have a current value of $400-$500 million. We could use one since even property-wealthy communities like Scarborough and Cumberland are turning down locally funded school bonds. School construction was once a shared responsibility between local districts and the state, but no more.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment was the lack of a vote on a “red flag” law that could have prevented the Lewiston massacre last Oct. 25, when 18 Mainers were senselessly murdered and another 13 maimed.
Police and Army officers are still feuding over who should have triggered the substitute “yellow flag” law offered by Mills in 2019. If, under “red flag,” family members could have petitioned a judge the shootings might not have happened.
Still, lawmakers enacted meaningful gun safety laws, including a 72-hour waiting period that could prevent many suicides. Mills was still considering those bills as of this writing.
Another notable bill moved Maine toward a public defender system for indigent criminal defendants after smaller steps were taken previously.
The Portland Sea Dogs should be able to stay put after the House reversed its opposition to the inevitable tax break all professional sports stadiums seem to demand.
The House also switched its stance so a sand dune created by human intervention won’t block construction of a wind turbine port on Sears Island – a project still facing many obstacles before construction can begin.
A typical “short session” – four months rather than six – rarely produces any signature changes in state law.
Even columnists have their favorites, though.
One measure I’ve long advocated, as readers may have noticed, is the National Popular Vote Compact that became law on the seventh try.
First introduced by former House Speaker John Martin in 2007 – joined by two other speakers, Libby Mitchell and Hannah Pingree – it passed by a one-vote margin in the House.
It will have no effect on the 2024 presidential election, since Michigan is the only other state still seriously considering it. If Michigan adds 15 electoral votes to Maine’s four, plus 10 provided by Minnesota last year, there will be 224 of the 270 needed to effectively choose a president by popular vote.
If that day comes, it will mark a sea change. No more swing states deciding elections; each vote will count exactly the same.
Perhaps after more than two centuries of allowing states to substitute for the voters, Americans could actually elect their president directly. Now that would be revolutionary.
Douglas Rooks has been a Maine editor, columnist and reporter since 1984. He is the author of four books, most recently a biography of U.S. Chief Justice Melville Fuller, and welcomes comment at drooks@tds.net
The loons are back and nesting on lakes statewide and we need your help to monitor their population! Every year since 1983, hundreds of volunteers have gone out to lakes and ponds across Maine on the third Saturday in July. These volunteers submit data about the number of loons they observe from 7 to 7:30 am, which gives us an excellent “snapshot” of the loon population. The Annual Loon Count allows us to monitor how the number of adults and chicks has changed over the past 40 years and make sure we know how to best protect their population!
This year, the Loon Count will take place on Saturday, July 18. We encourage you to join a group of over 1,800 volunteers and help us count the number of loons in Maine! The Loon Count occurs on lakes and ponds all across the state and volunteers can survey by boat or shore (you don’t have to have a boat to take part!).
If you’re interested in getting involved, please contact us at conserve@maineaudubon.org and tell us if there’s a specific lake or area you’d like to survey. We are always aiming to expand our coverage across the state and particularly encourage volunteers in northern Maine to get involved!
The deadline to sign up for the Annual Loon Count is July 10, so please reach out as soon as possible.
If you can’t make it on July 18, or if one day just isn’t enough for you, you can monitor loons throughout the summer.Through our Loon Pair Monitoring project, you can submit observations of breeding loon pairs over several months to help us better understand nest and chick success across Maine. Find out more here >
If talking to people and doing outreach appeals to you, and you’d like to help spread the word about loon conservation, check out our Look Out for Loons outreach program.
THOMASTON, Maine (WGME) — The Maine DEA says they arrested two people on Wednesday in connection with drug trafficking out of Vinalhaven.
Mariah Grover, 22, and Jefferson Jazzir Arias, 27, were reportedly arrested following an investigation by the Maine DEA’s Mid-Coast Task Force and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office into suspected drug trafficking from the island of Vinalhaven to Rockland via ferry.
Jefferson Jazzir Arias (Courtesy of Knox County Jail)
Both Grover, a resident of Texas and Maine, and Arias, a resident of Texas and California, were pulled over by authorities in Thomaston in a car that had been identified in that investigation, according to the Maine DEA.
The Maine DEA says a search of the car found 66 grams of suspected cocaine, a .45 caliber handgun, $9,500 in suspected drug money, and other “items indicative of drug trafficking.”
Mariah Grover (Courtesy of Knox County Jail)
Authorities say Arias had two extraditable warrants related to robbery in California and theft in Texas. Arias was reportedly charged with aggravated trafficking in Schedule W drugs, and Grover was charged with unlawful trafficking in Schedule W drugs.
Grover was reportedly taken to Knox County Jail on a $50,000 cash bail and will make a court appearance on May 29th.
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Arias was also taken to Knox County Jail on a $75,000 cash bail and will make a court appearance on the same day, according to authorities.
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Three more women have signed onto a federal lawsuit against the Maine Department of Corrections for allowing transgender prisoners to be housed in facilities that align with their gender identity.
First brought by Katie Mountain in April, the lawsuit now includes Jennifer Albert, Michaela Sargent and Danielle Foster, who say they live in fear at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham because of the department’s policy.
According to the lawsuit, the women have been sexually assaulted, threatened and repeatedly harassed by several transgender prisoners, including Andrea Balcer, who Mountain says caused “extreme physical and psychological distress.”
Balcer is serving a 40-year sentence for the murder of both parents in 2017.
Mountain, who was housed with Balcer when she began serving a 10-month sentence in January, alleges that while bunking together, Balcer subjected her to “graphic sexual stories, trapped her in a bathroom, pushed her against the wall, forcibly kissed her, and made repeated threats of rape and impregnation.”
Sargent describes waking up to Balcer stroking her hair and saying, “if you don’t wake up it’s because I smothered you with a pillow.” She also alleges that Balcer once grabbed her shirt and demanded, “show me your boobs.”
Attorney Cynthia Dill, who represents the plaintiffs, said in a press release that when the women reported the abuse or refused to affirm Balcer’s gender identity, they were met with retaliation by being placed in segregation, being denied hygiene supplies and medication and losing eligibility for early release.
In their lawsuit, the women argue that the policy mandates gender affirmation with “deliberate indifference to the safety, privacy and civil rights of women incarcerated in the State of Maine.” They say “gender identity” first made its way into Maine laws that govern corrections in 2021.
The plaintiffs are seeking a permanent injunction against the gender identity law and related state correctional policies along with damages.
Jill O’Brien, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Corrections, said in a statement that the department takes residents’ safety concerns very seriously.
“Anytime a resident makes a report of physical or sexual violence or harassment to staff, the Department investigates,” O’Brien said. “If the conduct that occurred rises to the level of a crime, it is referred to the District Attorney for prosecution. If it violates the Department’s disciplinary policy, the residents involved are disciplined.”
O’Brien added that information about specific residents is confidential and information about specific residents is confidential.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
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