June 6, 2013

AUGUSTA - The Maine House of Representatives Thursday morning unanimously accepted an "Ought to Pass" recommendation from the legislature's Education Committee on Augusta Rep. Matthew Pouliot's bill to include financial literacy in state public high school curriculums.

"This is the primary piece of legislation I put forward in the first year of my freshman term," said Pouliot. "It took some convincing, but over the course of many meetings and hearings, I'm glad that we were able to buil...

June 4, 2013

AUGUSTA - The House on Tuesday took up two bills concerning military recruiters in public schools. The first, LD 1502, requires that public high schools allow recruiters to administer the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test to students who elect to take it. Under the bill, recruiters, not school staff, would take the time to administer the test, which would remain voluntary for the students.

That bill was rejected mostly along party lines, 74-68. Majority Democrats ...

May 31, 2013

AUGUSTA - The Maine Apportionment Commission met Friday morning at 9:00 in Legislative Council Chambers and voted unanimously to approve new boundaries for the electoral districts that make up the Maine House of Representatives and each of Maine's county governments. The commission voted unanimously to approve a new map of Maine Senate districts last Friday, May 24. The bipartisan commission is formed every 10 years to negotiate new districts in order to conform with shifts to the state's popu...

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...

May 7, 2013

AUGUSTA - May 6-10 is Teacher Appreciation Week, a time when Americans take a moment to recognize the hard and important work teachers do every day. Each day for the rest of the week, Republican state representatives will tell their own stories of teachers who made a difference in their lives.

On Tuesday, Representative Matthew Pouliot of Augusta took time to share his story of the teacher who made the biggest difference in his life. At 26, Pouliot is one of the youngest House Republica...

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...

March 22, 2013

AUGUSTA - Governor LePage held a conference on education Friday at Cony High School in Augusta. The event featured experts from around the nation who spoke on a variety of topics related to education reform. Republicans in recent years have been champions of education reform, emphasizing the need to change the status quo by putting students first and focusing on learning results above all else.

Rep. Matthew Pouliot (R-Augusta) serves on the Legislature's Education and Cultural Affairs Com...

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 ...

December 11, 2012

AUGUSTA - House and Senate Republican leaders today named their appointees to the Apportionment Commission, which will convene throughout the winter and spring to redraw the state's House and Senate districts. The Maine Constitution requires redistricting every 10 years in order to ensure that state legislative districts comport with population changes. The commission is made up of 15 members, three of whom are named by House Republicans, two by Senate Republicans, one is the Maine Republic...

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...