AUGUSTA - A new law sponsored by Rep. Rebecca Millett, D-Cape Elizabeth, to codify green housing standards will go into effect Monday, August 8.
As amended, LD 1656 will increase Maine's energy-efficient affordable housing stock by requiring new construction projects funded by the Maine State Housing Authority to meet certain housing design standards and sustainability requirements.
AUGUSTA - On Monday, August 8, three key bills to protect employee benefits and enhance access to emergency medicine, sponsored by Rep. Amy Roeder, D-Bangor, will go into effect.
LD 225 requires employers to pay employees unused accrued vacation time upon the cessation of their employment. Employers with 10 or fewer employees and public employers, including the University of Maine System and the Maine Community College System, will not be subject to this new law.
AUGUSTA - On Thursday, all three Democratic leaders in the Maine House of Representatives shared supportive statements in response to news that Chipotle workers in Augusta are facing union-busting tactics. The closure announcement follows the crew filing a petition for a union election in late June. The Maine store was the first location where Chipotle workers began unionizing. Since then, organizing drives have begun in Michigan, New York, and elsewhere.
Speaker Ryan Fecteau of Biddeford:
AUGUSTA - Rep. Kristen Cloutier, D-Lewiston, has been selected for the Council of State Government's 2022 Henry Toll Fellowship. She is one of just 48 chosen to participate in the fellowship, the nation's premier leadership development program for state officials.
AUGUSTA - Rep. Lori K. Gramlich, D-Old Orchard Beach, has been selected for the Council of State Government's 2022 Henry Toll Fellowship. She is one of just 48 chosen to participate in the fellowship, the nation's premier leadership development program for state officials.
AUGUSTA - Last night, Governor Janet Mills signed an Executive Order to further safeguard access to abortion in Maine and to protect both Maine health care professionals who provide reproductive health care and the patients who depend on this care, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
AUGUSTA - On Friday, as a result of a bill from Speaker Ryan Fecteau of Biddeford, over 200,000 Mainers will have access to dental care coverage. Starting July 1, dental care-including preventative care, restorative care, and diagnostic carewill be available to Mainers with MaineCare insurance. This model will replace emergency-only dental coverage.
AUGUSTA - Rep. Sue Salisbury, D-Westbrook, has been accepted to the Robert J. Thompson Eastern Leadership Academy (ELA) as a member of the class of 2022.
AUGUSTA - Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, overturning the abortion rights affirmed in the case of Roe v. Wade. A draft opinion had been leaked to the press last month.
Speaker Fecteau D- Biddeford, House Majority Leader Michelle Dunphy D-Old Town, and Assistant Majority Leader Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, released the following statements in response the ruling:
AUGUSTA - Rep. Amy Roeder, D-Bangor, received the Maine AFL-CIO's Edie Beaulieu Legislative Award Thursday night. Roeder is a member of three unions, serves on the Legislature's Labor and Housing Committee and successfully sponsored legislation to extend family medical leave to hourly school employees and enforce a provision that ensures accrued vacation time be paid to employees upon cessation of their work.
