State Sen. Roger Katz, a Republican, said that he was disappointed in the governor’s veto which came Monday night which put into question weather the state will be able to receive funds from the Affordable Care Act for nearly 70,000 Mainers. Katz authored an amendment to cut off Maine’s participation in the expansion after three years, designed to ease Republican concerns about the potential costs on the state when the federal government begins to lower its share.

For three years the ACA would fully fund the program in Maine. Then the federal government funds the program at 90 percent.

“It’s disappointing that the governor is making his choice to deny health care to tens of thousands of Mainers and deny economic opportunity in every corner of our state,” said Senate President Justin Alfond after Governor Paul LePage vetoed legislation June 17th, to expand Maine’s Medicaid program with help from the ACA.

The House and Senate took final votes on the Medicaid bill, LD 1066, last Thursday. It passed in the House, 97-51, and in the Senate, 23-12. Some Republican voted for the measure but the numbers still are short of the two-thirds threshold needed to override LePage’s veto.

Read more ›

“It’s disappointing that the governor is making his choice to deny health care to tens of thousands of Mainers and deny economic opportunity in every corner of our state,” said Senate President Justin Alfond after Governor Paul LePage vetoed legislation June 17th, to expand Maine’s Medicaid program with help from the Affordable Care Act, (ACA).

The House and Senate took final votes on the Medicaid bill, LD 1066, last Thursday. It passed in the House, 97-51, and in the Senate, 23-12. Some Republican voted for the measure but the numbers still are short of the two-thirds threshold needed to override LePage’s veto.

In his veto message LePage wrote Maine has expanded Medicaid before and all that amounted to was what he called a “massive increase in welfare expansion.”

Under Governor John Baldacci’s Dirigo Health Care Act Maine increased the numbers of people covered with preventative care to 15 percent. The measure saved lives with critical medical screenings and procedures many couldn’t afford on their own.

Healthcare is not considered welfare in all other industrialized nations. And many in America consider healthcare a right not a privilege.

Read more ›

According to the 2010 Census, nearly one in seven Mainers is considered “food insecure,” meaning there is a limited or uncertain food supply. The bill would bring together several local and regional groups working on food policy throughout the state, as well as farmers and other interested parties. Today the State Senate unanimously passed a measure to establish a food policy council to develop a plan to increase access to locally grown and sustainable food for more Mainers across the state.

“Quite simply, we can do more to help hungry Mainers. We have the local resources to produce much more food in Maine, and feed many more Maine people. While we struggle with this food crisis, we have farmland ready for production and a labor force ready to work,” said Senate President Justin Alfond, the bill’s sponsor.

Alfond’s bill establishes the Maine Farm-to-Plate Commission, tasked with developing a strategic plan for agricultural economic development and identifying methods and the funding necessary to strengthen links among producers, processors, and markets.

Read more ›

Eight water and wastewater projects across Maine will receive grants all together totaling $2.97 million from the USDA Rural Development program. Communities in rural Maine will see drinking water and wastewater systems improved, which could also spur economic development.

“I am pleased that USDA Rural Development can invest nearly $3 million. These projects ensure people living in Maine’s rural areas have access to clean, safe, drinking water and reliable wastewater infrastructure while helping to preserve the environment and the integrity of Maine’s pristine lakes and streams,” said USDA Rural Development State Director Virginia Manuel.

The following organizations will receive grant funding:

Read more ›

An investigative report by Colin Woodard of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram revealed that Gov. LePage’s Commissioner of Environmental Protection, Patricia Aho, stalled restrictions on toxic chemicals in everyday products to the benefit of out-of-state corporate interests – including the very same chemical industry she formerly served as a paid lobbyist.

“Shame on Governor LePage for representing the toxic chemical industry, rather than protecting the health of Maine families,” said Amanda Sears, associate director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center. “The Governor should drop his opposition to the Healthy Kids bill, and put Maine people before toxic politics,” she said, referring to LD 1181, An Act to Further Strengthen the Protection of Pregnant Women and Children from Toxic Chemicals.

The seven-month investigative news report revealed that the LePage Administration:

* Blocked restrictions on toxic flame retardants made by Aho’s former lobbying clients;
* Failed to name a single priority chemical under the Kid Safe Products Act; and
* When it couldn’t overturn the law in 2011, switched to stalling tactics to thwart it.

Read more ›

The Maine House and Senate have sent to Gov. Paul LePage for approval a $6.3 billion budget plan, and a measure to pay the state’s hospital debt.

Lawmakers sent a bill to renegotiating the state’s wholesale liquor contract to pay back about $184 million in Medicaid debt to hospitals. “As we make this final payment to make good on past debt to hospitals, we have also moved ahead with a bill that will reduce hospital debt and charity care in the future,” said Speaker of the House Mark Eves. “We must address both sides of this coin. To do one without the other, leaves the job half done.”

Accepting federal dollars would help contain future health care costs by reducing hospital charity care and bad debt, which totaled $450 million last year,according to the Maine Hospital Association.

Read more ›

A bill to ban the sale and possession of a class of drugs called synthetic cannabinoids, commonly known as “spice” or “K2,” is on its way to Gov. Paul LePage’s desk after winning unanimous final approval in the Maine Legislature on Thursday. Spice is a psychoactive designer drug made from synthesized chemicals that is supposed to mimic marijuana, but it is often blamed for causing prolonged psychosis or worsening existing mental health disorders.

“This bill provides additional tools for law enforcement and health care providers to address substance abuse in our community,” said Rep. Adam Goode, the bill’s primary sponsor. “It will make Maine a safer, healthier place to live, and I hope the governor signs it into law.”

The measure, LD 661, corrects a major loophole in Maine’s drug laws. Drug dealers are able to get around bans already in place by making slight, chemical changes to their products. The measure keeps all versions of “spice” illegal, even if the recipe is changed.

Read more ›

The State Senate voted unanimously in a vote of 35 — 0 to approve a measure that makes the state’s final payment on Maine’s hospital debt and renegotiates the state’s liquor contract.

“We have done our job today and paid our bills. Now we must continue to work to make sure we never get back in this position again and we must all be committed to strengthening our healthcare system,” said Senate Majority Leader Seth Goodall. “It’s time to finish our work and addresses the true cost drivers in our healthcare system.”

This bill makes the final payment of $183.5 million to Maine hospitals triggering a federal match totaling $490 million in state and federal dollars. By paying the hospitals prior to October 1, 2013, the state will save $5 million. Over the last decade, Maine hospitals have been paid $3.7 billion in combined state and federal dollars to repay past debt and to maintain services.

The bill is different from Governor Paul LePage’s in two distinct ways. !. LePage wanted to issue a bond to build a new prison in his proposal as well as, 2. take over the liquor business that is currently leased out to a private company. The governor also threatened not to release voter approved bonds unless he got this bill passed.

Read more ›

A genetically modified organisms (GMO) labeling bill passed in the Maine legislature Wednesday, making it the second state, after Connecticut, to put a bill forward that would require food products to be labeled if they contain GMOs.

Maine’s House of Representatives approved LD 718 with 141 to 4 vote on Tuesday. The state’s Senate passed an GMO bill after amendments unanimously Wednesday. The differences between the two bills are currently being negotiated and will require further votes in the House and Senate before going to Governor Le Page for his signature.

The GMO labeling bill will not go into effect until two other Northeastern states enact labeling laws. New Hampshire and New York are currently considering GMO labeling legislation.

Read more ›

The Maine House on Wednesday, in a bipartisan vote of 97 to 51, passed a measure to accept Affordable Care Act (ACA) funding to expand healthcare coverage to nearly 70,000 low-income and working Mainers.Six Republicans joined Democrats to pass the bill. Two Democratic members were absent.

“Today the Maine House put the health care of Maine people before party politics,” said Speaker of the House Mark Eves. “We worked together to find a compromise that will no doubt change the lives of Maine people; Maine people who are working and can’t afford health care, people who are choosing between paying for their medicine and putting food on the table.”

Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government has agreed to pay 100 percent of the cost for covering all newly eligible people for the first three years, and then gradually lowers payment to no less than 90 percent of the cost by 2020. Maine is projected to save $690 million in the next 10 years if it accepts the federal dollars, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Foundation and the conservative Heritage Foundation. Maine is also one of 10 states that will see Medicaid expenditures go down over the next 10 years.

Just today The Maine Center for Economic Policy, (MECEP), released a new analysis showing the economic positive impact of accepting federal health care dollars for each of Maine’s 16 counties.

Read more ›