Congresswoman Chellie Pingree sits at the head of the conference table during a meeting with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta courtesy photo

In 2011 there were nearly 3,200 cases of sexual assault reported in the U.S. military, which was a 1 percent increase over 2010. The Pentagon estimates that 86 percent of sexual assaults go unreported. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta addressed the issue on April 9, 2012, announcing new steps to fight the problem. Before making the announcement, Panetta met with members of the House Armed Services Committee, including Democrat Chellie Pingree. Pingree met with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last night to discuss the proposed changes.

“These changes aren’t going to make sexual assault in the military go away, but they’re a good start and will give victims more of the protection they deserve,” said Pingree. “It’s also important that Secretary Panetta is speaking out on this issue. He couldn’t have been clearer when he talked to us last night. He said the rate of sexual assault in the military is totally unacceptable and I couldn’t agree with him more.”

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Rep. Emily Cain talks about helping to turn the tide of domestic violence in Maine as her sponsored bill to help that goal was signed by Gov. LePage on April 17, 2012

Today, Governor Paul LePage signed into law two measures that will increase protections for victims of domestic violence. House Democratic Leader Emily Cain is the sponsor of the governor’s domestic violence bill, LD 1867, “An Act To Protect Victims of Domestic Violence.” The bill will strengthen the bail sentencing for perpetrators in acts of domestic violence and requires that judges set bail conditions instead of bail commissioners in certain cases.

“Stemming the tide of domestic violence in our state is a bipartisan priority,” said Cain. “The legislation the governor signed into law today is an important first step. We must also work together on comprehensive domestic violence prevention resources and treatment for battered women and their families.”

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The Pentagon sent Congress a proposal for two new rounds of base closures this week, but Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said she’s skeptical that the proposed Base Closure and Realignment Commissions (BRAC) would actually save much money.

“We haven’t seen any savings from the last round of BRAC closures so it’s premature to start another round now. And before we even consider closing more bases here in the U.S. we need to take a good, hard look at our overseas facilities,” said Pingree.

Pingree, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said even if more base closures are planned, she would fight to keep the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard off the list.

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The Maine House voted to override a veto of a bill that would help schools pay for certain critical medical services for special education students. The veto was overturned in the House of Representatives by a vote of 124 to 16. The vote was 35 to 0 in the Senate.

The vote is the Legislature’s first override of the governor’s 17 vetoes since he took office.

“Lawmakers overwhelmingly joined together to stand up for Maine children and our schools,” said Rep. Richard Wagner, D-Lewiston, who serves on the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee, which unanimously passed the measure earlier this year. “This is a simple bill that ensures our school districts have access to funds to take care of students with special needs.”

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Maine’s Labor Committee voted today along party lines to repeal collective bargaining rights for family childcare providers. Over 200 of these providers came together and voted to form their own organization to be able to more effectively negotiate on critical issues of childcare quality with the State of Maine and they joined the Maine State Employees Association for union representation. The union does not have the power to negotiate subsidy rates received by the providers– only lawmakers control do.

The bill, L.D. 1894, would repeal a law passed in 2008 to allow child care providers who are not state employees but receive state subsidies to unionize. That legislature gave childcare providers the right to collective bargain. Republican’s today continue to oppose such measures.

“Family childcare providers do invaluable work for our children, families and economy as a whole. Our state is stronger when these workers have a seat at the table and when they have a voice in ensuring quality child care for every working family in Maine,” said Don Berry,Maine AFL-CIO President. “This legislative action continues a larger pattern where Governor LePage and his legislative allies are more interested in taking rights away from workers than in focusing on the real work of rebuilding an economy that works for everyone.”

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The Maine House today overwhelmingly rejected a measure today that would have allowed police to alert the public about juvenile arrest prior to being charged with any crime. The bill failed by a vote of 14 to 122.

“I’m surprised and delighted to see that common sense and long-standing juvenile justice policy prevailed,” said Rep. Anne Haskell, who led the Democratic argument against the bill, which she said inappropriately violated the privacy of juveniles prior to them being arrested.

“It is absolutely wrong to put a scarlet letter on a teenager even before they’ve been charged or found guilty,” said Haskell.

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Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, a Member of the House Armed Services Committee, said today that the Department of Defense has announced that the deadline for veterans and service members to apply for retroactive stop-loss payments has been extended to October 21, 2012.

“Our men and women in uniform made such sacrifices when their return home was put off so they could continue to serve when needed,” said Pingree. “I hope we can repay this debt to every single service member it’s owed, which is why this extension is so important.”

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Rep. Anne Graham celebrated a big win for property tax payers on Thursday, March 22, after most Republican House members of the Taxation Committee reversed their opposition to a bill that would allow property tax abatements on homes that are uninhabitable. All but one Republican representative joined Democrats in supporting an amended version of the bill.

“The success of this committee vote continues my efforts to work in a bipartisan way to support common sense policies for the people of Maine,” said Graham. “I hope the fact that I have been able to successfully get overwhelming bipartisan support for all four of the bills considered by my colleagues in my first term in office shows the people of Maine that progress is still possible here.”

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Applications are now being solicited for the Tibor and Anna Doby Veteran Support Fund at the Maine Community Foundation.

The Doby Veteran Support Fund seeks to address the needs of rural veterans, their families, and the nonprofit providers that serve them. Grants of up to $25,000 will be made to help organizations more effectively deliver programs and services to veterans and their families living in rural regions of Maine. Proposals must be submitted by May 15, 2012. Guidelines are available at www.mainecf.org .

The Doby Fund advisors are particularly interested in helping to build the capacity of community-based organizations to offer programs and case management services that provide support to veterans affected by mental and behavioral health issues.

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To promote its initiative to build healthy, affordable, and energy-efficient homes that incorporate green building techniques and technologies, MSHA started a Mainestream Green Home Design Contest. Dale McCormick shows Governor John E. Baldacci some energy design features in one of the winning designs.

The MaineHousing director Dale McCormink, who also served as Treasurer of the State of Maine, resigned today at a board meeting. McCormink has been the relentless focus of some in the LePage administration whose ideology differs from hers. In January, 2005 McCormick became director of the Maine State Housing Authority, Maine’s housing finance agency and one of the state’s leading mortgage lenders. MSHA provides safe and affordable housing for low- and moderate-income Maine residents through a variety of programs, which it funds primarily through the sale of its mortgage revenue bonds or through federal funds it acquires for Maine.

In 2011 over 30 million in federal funded loans were allocated by MaineHousing. The agency helped put people who needed weatherization together with the KeepMe Warm initiative of Gov. John Baldacci’s. McCormick became known nationally for developing a way to calculate carbon savings from weatherization techniques.

The new Republican members of the MSHA board of directors, including Chairman Peter Anastos and State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin, have made no secret of their wish to replace McCormick. The board cited research by the ultra conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center, which claimed overspending and mismanagement. A major reason why MSHA is not part of Maine State government is that allocating funds for low income housing is highly political. Maine needs the stability that MSHA, an organization which doesn’t change its policies because of ideological reasons, gives the housing market. But MSHA’s nonpartisan status may be changing with a Republican backed proposal lawmakers are currently reviewing. This could have influenced McCormick’s decision to resign.

The following is her letter of resignation in full:

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