May 14, 2013

AUGUSTA - The Legislature's Education Committee on Monday voted "ought to pass as amended" on a bill to cap the portion of teacher evaluations to be determined by year-over-year changes to students' standardized testing scores. Rep. Bruce MacDonald (D-Boothbay), co-chair of the committee, sponsored the bill, LD 751, which originally capped the figure at 30 percent. He later amended the bill to reduce that figure to just 10 percent.

MacDonald and the Maine Education Association have sinc...

April 12, 2013

AUGUSTA - House Republicans on the Legislature's Education and Cultural Affairs Committee today expressed their support for Maine's fledgling charter school program. Several bills related to the schools received public hearings before their committeesome to weaken, and some to strengthen the reform initiative.

Several of the bills attack online learning. Rep. Daughtry's LD 671, the innocuously-worded "An Act to Protect Charter Schools by Requiring Them To Be Operated as Nonprofit Organi...

January 30, 2013

AUGUSTA - The Legislature's Education and Cultural Affairs Committee today voted out a measure to curtail funding from charter schools. The vote fell on party lines, 8-5, with all five Republicans opposing the measure.

Department of Education commissioner Stephen Bowen and Department of Administrative and Financial Services commissioner Sawin Millett both testified before the committee. Commissioner Millett had sharp words for Democratic lawmakers, saying that their proposal to curtail ...

January 9, 2013

AUGUSTA - Democratic legislators held a press conference today in the State House's Hall of Flags to outline their agenda for the 126th Legislature of 2013-2014. As Democrats admitted, they were unable to actually discuss specifics because the Governor has yet to present his biennial budget to the Legislature.

Democrats did, however, resurrect decades-old talking points about throwing more money at the problem of poor education results and maxing out the state's credit card for stimulus ...

November 30, 2011

House Republican Office

November 21, 2011

For more information:

Jay Finegan, 287-1445

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ray Wallace sworn in as Legislature's newest member

AUGUSTA - State Rep. Ray Wallace was sworn into office today by Governor Paul LePage after winning a special election to fill a vacant seat in House District 24.

Rep. Wallace (R-Dexter) said he was motivated to run for office by the reform agenda championed by the Republican majorities in the House and Senate...

May 5, 2011

AUGUSTA - Landmark legislation to revamp Maine's health insurance market cleared a critical hurdle today in the House of Representatives by a vote of 76-72. The measure, designed to generate more competition and bring rates closer to national norms, now moves to the Senate. Final enactment votes in both bodies could come as early as next week.

"The people of our state are the winners today," said House Speaker Robert Nutting. "For years, reasonable proposals to fix a dysfunctional health insur...

February 24, 2011

AUGUSTA - State Rep. Pete Johnson reports heavy activity on the Legislature's Education and Cultural Affairs Committee, with school funding at the center of the agenda.

This session marks his second term on the committee, putting him in position to shape legislation on a range of issues, from school finance and special education to the community college and University of Maine systems.

Rep. Johnson (R-Greenville) a retired military officer, said he is pleased to be back on the commit...