AUGUSTA - Members of the Legislative Council voted Monday on bill proposals for the upcoming session. Two bills sponsored by Rep. Richard Evans, D-Dover Foxcroft, one concerning the forest products industry and the other concerning health care affordability, have been approved by the council to be considered next year.
SKOWHEGAN - Governor Janet Mills and Speaker Ryan Fecteau today joined officials from the Town of Skowhegan and Kennebec Valley Community Action Program to break ground on a new, major housing project, the Mary Street Apartments. The project will provide 40 new affordable housing units for families in the Skowhegan area and is the direct result of legislation sponsored by Speaker Fecteau and signed into law by Governor Mills last year.
AUGUSTA - In response to the Casey Family Programs' report concerning the Maine Office of Child and Family Services and several recent child fatalities, Rep. Michele Meyer, D-Eliot, House chair of the Legislature's Committee on Health and Human Services, released the following statement:
Rep. Allison Hepler, D-Woolwich, received the Lewis and Clara Lamont Brain Injury Award at the annual conference of the Brain Injury Association of Maine on Wednesday, October 13. The award was established for individuals who have provided outstanding advocacy on behalf of Maine citizens who have experienced life-altering brain injuries.
We have a problem in Maine, and that problem is Big Pharma. Something needs to be done to rein in the excessively high costs of prescription medications. In 2018, Americans spent $535 billion dollars on prescription drugs, an increase of 50% since 2010. The Maine Health Data Organization reports that last year, Mainers paid an additional $165.5 million over the previous year for the 25 drugs sold in Maine having the highest price increases. Also, in 2018, the CEOs of three major drug companies were paid a total of more than $90 million dollars.
AUGUSTA - Rep. David McCrea, D-Fort Fairfield, Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, and Rep. Roland "Danny" Martin, D-Sinclair, have released statements in support of the Biden administration's decision to reopen the Canadian border in November for nonessential travel. The new rules will allow fully vaccinated individuals in Canada to enter the United States regardless of the reason for travel.
AUGUSTA - Rep. Mike Sylvester, D-Portland, will be one of a number of speakers attending a Restaurant Wage Reform event hosted by Ruby's West End in Portland on Tuesday, October 12 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Sylvester will speak about a bill he is proposing for the upcoming session, the Maine Food Workers Bill of Rights, which will address the current staffing crisis throughout the Maine food system economy and support small business employers who are struggling to fully reopen with limited staff.
I recently finished reading an interesting book that was sent to me and fellow members of the Legislature's Energy, Utilities and Technology (EUT) Committee by a concerned Maine resident. She sent this book to us at her own cost to share with us how other communities have implemented high speed internet and how that implementation has grown their economies and bettered their communities.
As you may have read in the paper or heard on the news, the Maine Legislature has just completed our work on redistricting. Maine is constitutionally mandated to redraw district lines after the federal census has been completed and the data is released. This includes the two congressional districts, the 35 state senate districts and the 151 house districts, as well as the county commissioner districts.
Our small businesses are the cornerstone of the Maine economy. They are also the heart and soul of our lovely seaside community.
That is why I was honored to join our local Old Orchard Beach Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 6 for its annual awards banquet. The chamber and its members do great work to support our business community and local economy, and I was glad for the opportunity to thank them for all they do.